Knights of the Crests World Wide
by Takato Takaishi
Summary: My BIGGEST crossover yet. Contains Digimon, Monster Ranchers, Lord of the Rings, among others. Romance gets heavy in chapter 3, but no sexual activity. This is for people who like to read funny, romantic, and adventurous material
1. A Meeting fit for a Prince

Knights of the Crests World Wide  
Switzerland  
  
Normal disclaimer applies  
Note: This fic applies only to the French region and more towards Geneva and on. Also, they arrive in Switzerland at the ends of January.  
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A Meeting fit for a Prince  
  
  
-Now I remember why I hate singing sometimes- thought Takato as he finished singing and saw the huge crowd running towards him.  
  
He motioned for Jonathan to round it up and then they did the first sane thing in these kinds of occasions, they ran. They quickly got out of the gym and got into Jonathan's car. After that, Jonathan stepped on the gas and they were off. They soon arrived at their new home, after the hangar was destroyed in a battle last year during a sneak attack while they were in another country. Their previous guardian had also died during that attack, but she had reincarnated into a new female body. She now went by the name of Angelique, but they called her Angel. She had fortunately gotten a very well paying job as an accountant and they bought an average two-floor house in a quiet neighborhood. As they reached the house, they all got ready for a run, as they noticed four cars were following them. As soon as the car stopped, they jumped out and ran into the house, locking the door behind them.  
  
"Takato? Is that you? How was your concert?" asked the voice of their beloved adoptive mother and destined guardian, Angelique.  
  
"Fine, except for the usual fans" he replied  
  
"How far?" she asked back  
  
"Doorstep, this time they were persistent, even after Jonathan tried to outrun them in the highway" replied Hyryuu as he put down his guitar on the floor.  
  
"Mom? Who's down there?" asked Kim from upstairs. She was the only one who called Angelique mom without any effort.  
  
"Your brothers, dear" she replied, with her usual melodic tone.  
  
Just as she finished saying that, two heads appear from the stairway, Kim and Catherine. The two girls whoop and jump at the boys, hugging them.  
  
"What's the occasion?" asked Takato, since the girls rarely showed this affection.  
  
"Guess what!" asked Kim, jumping around, smiling, "We were invited by TK to Switzerland!"  
  
"TK? Long time no seeing him…" said Jonathan.  
  
"Exactly our thoughts!" replied Catherine, "So…can we go?"   
  
"No" simply said Takato  
  
"Why not?" asked Kim  
  
"We already have responsibilities in other countries to protect them, and right now, we're in the middle of the school year!" he countered  
  
"I can take care of school and the other countries, Takato, just go have some fun," said Angelique  
  
"You sure mom?" he asked. He didn't want to lose her again. The first time had almost killed him emotionally.  
  
"I'm sure…you just have fun," she said with a smile.  
  
"Ok then…fine, we can go…" he said.  
  
The girls jumped in joy and the other two boys high fived each other. Takato just sighed and went upstairs.  
  
-I have a bad feeling about this trip…- he thought  
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =   
In the Digiworld, a lone figure rose up from the ocean as another figure appeared from out of nowhere. They both emitted red and black auras, signaling that these were evil digimon. The bigger figure approached the newly arrived figure.  
  
"Do you have them?" it asked with a low growl.   
  
"Yes, sire, I was able to produce the tapes. Do you wish me to send them now?" the figure asked, head bowed.  
  
The figure grinned. "Do it"  
  
"As you wish my lord" the figure bowed and disappeared.   
  
The figure then let out an evil laugh before diving back under the water.  
  
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =   
Back in the real world, the gang had just arrived at Geneva Airport, where Natsuko was there to pick them up. They expected her to be cheerful when she saw them, but she was actually sad and looked relieved to see them. She noticed this and tried to act cheerful, but Takato would have none of it.  
  
"What's wrong, Nancy?" he asked.  
  
"Whatever do you mean, Takato?" she replied, nervously.  
  
"You have great turmoil going through your mind Nancy…" said Jin, the youngest of the group, and also a psychic.  
  
"Oh I know I shouldn't have tried to hide it from you…but I can't ask this of you……it'll interfere with your vacation………" she said  
  
"Fun later, trouble first, what's wrong?" asked Hyryuu.  
  
"TK's disappeared…" she said before going into sobs.  
  
"Oh my god……"gasped Kim  
  
"When did this happen?" demanded Jonathan, who, after Takato, had a very tight bond with TK.  
  
Nancy was able to look up and say "two days ago…" before breaking down into sobs again. Catherine and Kim went to her side to calm her down while Jin was pondering on something.  
  
Takato was the first to speak, "We've got to find him! He could be anywhere in the world right now!"  
  
Jonathan shook his head, "He'll have thought of that…."  
  
Hyryuu was the next one to step up. "How do we know if he even is in our world? He could be in the Digiworld right now!" he exclaimed  
  
Takato nodded, "He has a point"  
  
Jin surprised everyone there with the following words. "TK's not in the Digiworld…nor in our world…" she quietly said. Everyone looked at her with bewildered expressions. "He's…He's…dead…not physically…but the caring and loving TK…is…gone…" she said before sinking to the floor, almost blacked out.  
  
Takato went to her side and lifted her up. "Jin? How do you know this?"  
  
"I tapped into his mind and asked him by his name…he then screamed at me mentally that was not his name…that TK had died…that he was the Dark Prince…" she then looked up to Takato and with innocent eyes, she then asked "Brother, who's the Dark Prince?"  
  
"I don't know Jinny…but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough…" he said with a quiet, yet caring tone.  
  
Takato held her in a comforting way and then carried her to Nancy's car. Nancy stood amazed as she saw this. The Takato she had seen last time had killed with his own hands, and here he was, carrying a little girl in the most caring way possible. Takato would forever be a mystery for her. Jin was as innocent as Kari had been when she was eight, and she had also killed with her own hands. After they arrived to Nancy's mountain house, they settled in and then decided to take a walk. Nancy had told them to be back by 7 p.m. to have dinner and they all and they had all taken off to the plaza that was not far away from the house. Soon after entering the plaza, they saw some boys pushing a girl around Takato's age around. Another girl was watching helplessly not far away. Jonathan and Takato thought they had seen enough and ran at the attackers.   
  
"Leave her alone you pricks!" screamed Jonathan at the boys.  
  
The attackers looked towards his direction and two fell to the ground as Takato and Jonathan landed a right cross in their faces. The remaining three looked at them and charged at them. Jonathan grabbed the girl and jumped above his attacker effortlessly. Takato was battling off the other two. Blocking, hitting, blocking, sidestepping, blocking, and finally hitting them with two punches in the stomach, the fight was over. Takato took the other girl's hand and lifted her up before running towards his friends. Once there, he let her down and went to sit on a wall.  
  
"Thank you for helping us." said the girl that had been attacked.  
  
"Yes, we very much appreciate it. My name is Christina" she said with a bow.  
  
Jonathan then bowed before introducing himself and his friends. "My name is Jonathan, the three girls are Jin, Catherine, and Kim. The other boys are Hyryuu and Takato. Don't mind Takato much, he's usually quiet these days" he explained.  
  
"My name's Hikaru, I'm a singer in another country on a tour" said the girl that was attacked.  
  
"Well, Christina, Hikaru, why don't you come with us back home and tell us more of yourselves?" proposed Jonathan.  
  
The two girls looked at each other and nodded. So they went home and into Takato's room, which was the biggest, for unknown reasons to him. They had settled around a table that was part of the furniture in the room when something started beeping from Takato's drawer. He got up and opened it and retrieved his watch, or unknown to the new girls, his GPS and global transmitter. He went outside under pretext of going to repair it and then pressed a button. A small holographic image of Angelique appeared.  
  
"What's up, mom?" he asked.  
  
"Son, I've been reading several regions of the Digiworld becoming black…it's like the Emperor was back…except he was already beaten and he's turned good…might want to check it out" she said.  
  
"Will do, see you later mom" he said before turning it off.  
  
He then went back into his room and whispered what had just happened to his team. They all listened with wide eyes and then all thought the same. They had to go check it out. They then remembered that the two new girls did not know this and then looked nervously at Takato, whose eyes were shining.  
  
"Girls? Could you ask Nancy to bake you some cookies? The rest of us have to go somewhere for some time…until we come back, make yourselves at home!" he said, with a convincing tone that made both girls nod and leave the room.  
  
Gain, the team was surprised at Takato's skill. They quickly dismissed the awe and gathered around Takato's laptop before he inserted his necklace into the screen, opening the portal.  
  
"Digiworld UNLOCK!" he shouted, making the portal absorb him and his team.  
  
They had all arrived in a prairie. They got up and looked around, seeing nothing but digimon everywhere scattered around. Suddenly, they heard a low rumble, which steadily grew into a very loud rumble. They saw a huge fortress coming over towards them at a fast and steady pace.  
  
"Takato!" shouted someone from behind them.   
  
They turned to see Matt on Garrurumon riding towards them from the opposite direction of the fortress. He then dismounted Garrurumon and ran at them.  
  
"Quick! Get on Garrurumon! The Emperor and the Dark Prince are on their way here!" he told them.  
  
The kids nodded and got on Garrurumon, who then sped away towards what they could tell was Factory Town. They got off him as soon as the doors closed and then went to the control room at the top of the biggest tower. There, they found a sobbing Kari and Sora, comforted by Joe and Mimi. Izzy was busy working on the computers.  
  
"Ok, what's wrong here?" asked Jonathan, with genuine worry.  
  
"TK and Tai are gone, we can't find them anywhere, not in the real world, nor in the Digiworld and with those two warlords on the loose, it's getting harder to search ANYWHERE." Said an exasperated Matt, throwing his arms up.  
  
"Is that so? Guess we'll have to try harder then." said Hyryuu, "We can't let one of ours to get lost, especially since Digimon have been appearing in the world frequently nowadays."  
  
"Hyryuu is right, you guys, we have to find them!" exclaimed Kim.  
  
"It's settled then, first objective is to find Tai and TK, then, we get these Imperial wannabees from this world!" concluded Takato.  
  
AT this, everyone cheered, and the older kids promised not to get in the way. Kari promised some help, though she didn't specify which kind. After a small talk with Izzy on Imperial activity, they decided to go search deep into the East, where the Emperor's land was. The Prince would be there, and they thought he might have some information on their friends, though he wouldn't give it to them nicely. Since it was getting dark, the gang decided to go back to their world, something the older kids agreed to. After saying goodbye to everyone, the gang went to a television in the Digiworld near the Factory. There, Takato once again inserted his necklace into the screen and they were transported to their world again. Unfortunately, the girls they had left behind were in the room when they appeared again. As one could expect, they screamed. After a LONG explanation about themselves and their past "exploits", the girls let them go and then left for their house.  
  
"Remind me to not invite people over when we know we're going to leave for the Digiworld…" requested Jonathan as he rubbed his left ear.  
  
"Will do, bro" laughed Catherine  
  
They then left the room and went to the kitchen where diner was being served. After relating what happened in the Digiworld to Nancy, they went to their own separate room to sleep. The next day, they ate breakfast and then left for a stroll. On their way, they decided to go ski in a nearby course. Two hours later, they left the course laughing at Jonathan who was covered with snow from head to foot. Jonathan had skied straight into a mound of snow and come out of it through the other end. After cleaning him up and eating a snack in a nearby snack bar, they decided to go ice-skating. Unfortunately, only Kim, Catherine, and Jin knew how to ice skate.  
  
"Must we really go ice skating today?" complained Hyryuu  
  
"Yep" all the girls replied  
  
At this the boys groaned and hung their heads in defeat. When they got to the skating ring, the girls left to one side where the girls' bathroom was while the boys went to rent their skates. After they got ready, they met the girls at the ring and then the girls went into the ring itself. The boys stayed behind, white with panic.   
  
"Come on boys! It's fun AND easy!" shouted Catherine to them.  
  
"Says the person who's been doing this half her life!" shouted back Jonathan  
  
After waiting ten minutes for them to come out, the girls gave an exasperated pout and got them by their ears and pulled them into the ring. Almost at once Takato and Jonathan fell to the ice with a loud thud. Hyryuu was able to hold himself up, yet he was immobile.  
  
"How come you didn't fall?" asked Takato, from the floor.  
  
"My back is numb…someone help me…" complained Jonathan  
  
"I've had practice on roller blades…not much different balance needs." proposed Hyryuu.  
  
"He has a point, if you know how to roller blade, you can easily learn how to ice skate." said Christina from behind the girls.  
  
"Hey Christina!" greeted Kim.  
  
"Hi guys, now shouldn't we get these two on their feet again?" she asked.  
  
Both the girls nodded and slowly, they got Takato and Jonathan back on their feet, only to fall back down harder.  
  
"OwOwOwOwOwOw…I can't feel my back…"complained Takato  
  
"You can't feel it? I can't feel any part of my body!" exclaimed Jonathan  
  
At seeing this pitiful scene, all the girls sweatdroped. Hyryuu couldn't because he was too busy trying to keep himself standing. Just then, Hyryuu's watch started beeping, making him loose his balance.  
  
"Great…now I can't feel my back…someone get me up, please?" asked Hyryuu.  
  
As the girls lifted him up, all of their watches started beeping loudly.  
  
"Man…this must be important for all of us to be called." commented Jonathan.  
  
After they left the ring and were safely hidden from unwanted people, they finally activated their watches. As usual, Angelique appeared in her holographic form.  
  
"Ok, what's up this time?" asked Kim.  
  
"Believe it or not, you people are going to have one rough time over there…I read half of the Server continent under Imperial control. Seems the Emperor and Prince are not taking any free time. You must find a way to stop this at once, The Council of Digital Guardians are going nuts about this whole thing. They are going to send some help. They didn't tell me what kind though. Good luck, and be careful! Angelique signing off." she ended, as her hologram disappeared.  
  
"Long briefing, seems the Emperor and Prince won't cut us some slack, we better get to it then. Christina," said Jonathan, turning at her, "Do you know where we could find a computer nearby?"  
  
"Yep, my family's chalet is near here. We have a computer there. Follow me!" she said as she started running south of the ring.  
  
The others were quick in catching up, and soon they got to the house. Christina quickly led them up some stairs and then into her room. At first the boys were reluctant to go in, but then decided to go inside, after some convincing from the girls. Jonathan blushed all the way to the computer. Christina noticed this and started giggling. Takato took out his pendant and inserted it into the screen  
  
"Digiworld UNLOCK!" he shouted before a flash of light absorbed his whole team.  
  
They had now arrived in a forest near what they could tell was a small town. The only thing strange about this town was that it was deserted.  
  
"I don't like this at all" commented Takato with a suspicious tone.  
  
"Neither do I…but we better check it out" replied Hyryuu.  
  
Takato and Hyryuu nodded at each other and headed out for the town. When they were just arriving to it's entrance, they suddenly felt a cold breeze run by them.   
  
"Now I really don't like this…" said Takato  
  
"Let's go further in, we might find something" replied Hyryuu  
  
"Right" agreed Takato  
  
They again nodded at each other and started walking cautiously through the town's main street. They again felt a cold breeze and this time also felt a few drops of water falling on them.  
  
"Damn, it's going to rain…better find something to cover ourselves and the rest of the team." commented Hyryuu  
  
"Let's see…" started Takato, before he noticed a building farther down the road, "There! A store! Let's check that out!"  
  
"Good idea, let's go!" replied Hyryuu  
  
They started running at the store and quickly got there. Inside they found it all clean and organized, but no one was present. They started looking for something to cover them from the heat, rain, and dust during their journey and found some cloaks.  
  
"If we took them, would it be stealing them?" asked Takato  
  
"I dunno, I mean, there's no one here to receive any payment…maybe if we later pay for them, when someone is here, I mean, it wouldn't be illegal." he replied.  
  
"Yeah…let's go, we better get these to the others quick!" said Takato.  
  
Hyryuu nodded at this and followed Takato out of the store. Since the rain had already started pouring down a bit hard, they had put on their own cloaks already. As soon as they got to the forest, they found the others under a rock formation that was giving them shelter. Takato and Hyryuu gave them their cloaks and promised them they would be right back, that they were just going to check the town a bit more thoroughly. Takato and Hyryuu ran back to the main street and started going to the town hall, when a bright red beam cut their path. Takato traced the beam back to its owner, a kind of humanoid digimon, or so it appeared.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Hyryuu to their attacker.  
  
""Excuse me for not presenting myself properly. I am Lord Kaizer, special assassin of the Dark Prince. I was sent here to destroy you by his majesty. Prepare to die" hissed Kaizer.  
  
"Not without a fight we won't!" shouted Takato.  
  
"Yeah! Hell no way we're going down without a fight." shouted Hyryuu  
  
"Ah, a challenge, I was eager for one. Alright then, show me what you got." said Kaizer.  
  
Takato and Hyryuu swiftly brought out their pendants which then turned into their personal weapons, a sword for Takato, and a lance for Hyryuu. They both brought their weapons before their face, making their bodies glow.  
  
"Power of the Pendants, AWAKEN!" they both shouted.  
  
"Flame of Hope!" shouted Takato  
  
At Takato's words, his body became engulfed in orange fire from which his body slowly appeared, all parts of him fully armored in an orange-red armor. His head was covered with a hawk-like helmet. At his hip was a sheath in which lay his sword.  
  
"Typhoon of Loyalty!" shouted Hyryuu  
  
At Hyryuu's words, he became engulfed by a water tornado from which he sprang in a blue armor. His armor was only on his upper body and on his shins. His head lay naked and in his hands was his spear.  
  
"Ready, Hyryuu?" asked Takato, except with a more adult sound to his voice.  
  
"Ready" replied Hyryuu, with the same sound to his own voice.  
  
For people who did not understand their process of becoming Knight of the Crests, it would appear that they had grown up into adulthood. This was not entirely true, as this change was only temporary. When the crests of the Chosen Children were created, the Pendants were also created. These were to be used later on in digital history, after MyleoMyotismon was defeated. Since the creators of these pendants knew that ordinary children of teen would not be able to fight an evolved digimon because of lack of strength, they made the pendants 'evolve' the bearers into adulthood temporarily. Until the energy of the pendant was gone or the bearer commanded it, the bearer would remain in adulthood as soon as he said the evolving phrase "Power of the Pendants AWAKEN!". Back to the story though. Takato and Hyryuu were standing in their fighting stances as their enemy stood still with two swords in his hands. No one moved. Then, suddenly, their enemy opened his eyes wide and at both sides of him started appearing projections of him.  
  
"Drat! He's making projections of himself! How the hell do we know which one is the real him?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"No idea, try finding some flaw in this trick!" replied Takato.  
  
Then, suddenly, they felt the ground rumble and in the sky they could see the black fortress nearing them.  
  
"What is the Emperor doing here?" asked Takato  
  
"Fools! That is not his Majesty, the Emperor of the Digital World! That is my lord the Dark Prince! The Prince of Darkness and Lord of this area as of now!" mocked Kaizer, "You should be honored for him to appear in front of you."  
  
"Bring him on! He doesn't scare me!" cried Hyryuu  
  
"Only fools try to stand up to his power, the inhabitants of this town could tell that to you, if I had let them live." laughed Kaizer.  
  
"You killed them, those innocent digimon had the right to live you murderer!" shouted Takato.  
  
Kaizer merely smiled and soon his projections disappeared. He then turned his back on them and kneeled down and bowed his head. Takato and Hyryuu looked at each other in confusion but then saw that a black-caped figure was walking towards them. On his head was a black crown, symbolizing his status and announcing who he was. His face was young and handsome, no more than Takato's age. Where it not for his black and long spiky hair, Takato could of sworn that was TK.  
  
"Welcome my lord" greeted Kaizer to the Prince  
  
"You may stand, Kaizer. Tell me, are these the troublemakers that the Emperor is so angered by?" asked the Prince  
  
"They are, my lord" replied Kaizer.  
  
"Very well then," started the Prince as he then turned to Takato and Hyryuu, "I bring greetings from the Emperor. Though he wishes to be able to be here to eliminate you personally, he is unable to and has sent me here. I hope Kaizer here has entertained you while you waited, but be sure, my entertainment shall be far more painful than anything you've ever encountered before."  
  
"You're all talk, Prince!" shouted Takato  
  
"All talk am I? Very well, I shall show you my power" replied the Prince in a calm but clear voice.  
  
"Bring it on!" cried Hyryuu  
  
"Fools, you have unleashed that which you do not understand…you want to die? Fine, I shall grant your wish…Power of the Dark Crest, unleash your power!" shouted the Prince.  
  
At these words, the Prince started glowing darkly and started radiating dark energy. Behind him, Kaizer was smiling evilly at them. The Prince was now in black armor from top to bottom, except for his head and stomach area. On his chest was a black piece of armor that covered his shoulders, chest, and beginning parts of his arms, yet they still allowed full movement.  
"Behold, the Dark Prince!" shouted the Prince.  
  
"Let's get him!" shouted Hyryuu  
  
"Right!" replied Takato, as he followed Hyryuu in a charge.  
  
As they neared the Prince, he began laughing and soon, he had disappeared. They looked everywhere and found him on the rooftop of the store. The Prince swiftly got his sword out and pointed it to the ground, making a black beam shoot down at them. Both Hyryuu and Takato got clear of the beam, and Kaizer was looking on from a safe distance. Takato then charged the Prince and a fierce swordfight ensued. Takato and the Prince kept dodging and attacking each other without any hold-backs. From time to time they would hit each other, though the hits were fairly light and none had to stop fighting, making the other winner. Finally, though, the Prince seemed to overcome Takato slowly. Hyryuu, who was watching for the whole time, got fed up and decided to intervene. He charged at the Prince with his lance, causing a gash in the Prince's arm. The Prince screamed in pain and let go of his sword. Kaizer, who knew if he let things go on their own the Prince would die and the Emperor would kill him, got out his two swords and slashed Takato and Hyryuu in the back. They both fell on the ground paralyzed and unable to move. No blood seemed to appear in their wounds. The Prince touched his wound and said something in a low murmur and his wound vanished. He then took up his sword and snapped his fingers. Immediately the boys felt their bodies again and were able to move.  
  
"What in the world was that?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"I have no idea, but don't get tricked by these goons. Let's get them" replied Takato.  
  
"Yeah!" answered Hyryuu  
  
"Guys! Wait up! Let us help you!" shouted Jonathan as he and the others came running towards them.  
  
"Jonathan! Stay back, this guy is dangerous!" shouted Hyryuu  
  
"As if we don't know that! We're still going to help you guys so don't try to convince us otherwise!" shouted back Kim.  
  
"But…"started Takato, before his companions started to glow a familiar light.  
  
"Power of the Pendants AWAKEN!" they shouted.  
  
"Sword of Justice!" shouted Jonathan  
  
"Wind of Compassion!" shouted Kim  
  
"Fire of Passion!" shouted Catherine  
  
"Flower of Life!" shouted Jin  
  
At once they were each engulfed in light. A sword appeared in front of Jonathan's face before it vanished and golden light engulfed him. He reappeared afterwards in golden armor that covered his legs and upper body except for his head and arms. Golden gloves covered his hands. His head was covered with a golden helmet that covered everything except his eyes. From the back of his helmet one could see some of his blonde hair stick out. At his side was what they could tell was a double-edge sword.  
  
Kim was surrounded by a tender wind before it augmented into a tornado and out of it she came as an adult in silver armor that covered only her chest and legs and also her hips. Tibia protectors of silver color also were present and on her forehead was a silver band . Her arms were completely naked as were her hands. Every other part of her body not covered with armor except for her head and arms was covered with black clothing. Her silver shoes had wings on both side of them. Her hair seemed to also have turned silver with the transformation. She also held a silver staff that on one end was a moon symbol.  
  
A tremendous fire from which she sprang, as an adult, clad in red-orange armor, engulfed Catherine. On her chest plate was a small emblem of a flame. Her forehead had the same band that Kim had except that it was red. All in all, she looked exactly like Kim except for the colors and the emblem and her shoes had no wings. In her hands was a golden staff with no blade on either end.  
  
Jin was suddenly surrounded with flowers that seemed to cover her. After that, she seemed to blossom in an adult form from a big flower that had formed over her in a green armor that covered her chest, hips, and legs. Her arms were also naked but she had green silken gloves on her hands. She also held a staff with a sun symbol on one end.   
  
"We're ready" announced Jonathan.  
  
"Six versus two? My, my, that's not very fair is it? I guess I'll have to even it up a bit." the Prince said as he snapped his fingers.  
  
Out of possibly nowhere, four other humanoid figures appeared from thin air. None had any face that they could see and all of them emitted a dark aura.  
  
"Yet…it seems that since I am supposed to be the bad guy…that I should uneven the fight, does it not seem that way, Kaizer?" asked the Prince.  
  
"It does, my lord." replied Kaizer.  
  
"I don't like the sound of that…" said Kim  
  
"You shouldn't, my dear, now behold the power and influence of the Dark Prince!" he shouted, raising his right arm, "Digimon of the Empire, ARRISE!" he ended in a shout.  
  
From the ground, air, and sea appeared digimon of all sizes, each with a red glow to their eyes. They all started approaching the kids menacingly. As the kids began getting in defensive positions, they saw two figures swooping down from the sky and two from the ground running at them.  
  
"More trouble…be alert at all times, don't let any of them distract you" warned Takato, before the newly arrived figures started attacking the ones already present.  
  
Then they saw several kids running towards them. One of them, with spiky hair went directly towards Takato. Kari, who was right behind the boy, ran towards him too.  
  
"Takato, meet Davis, leader of the newest Chosen Children group." announced Kari as she presented the boy with spiky hair.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Takato" said Davis, with a bow.  
  
"Same here, Davis, but this really isn't the right time for presentations, unless you've noticed the Prince is here. Plus, we were about to start fighting him. So pleases stay out of the way." said Takato.  
  
"Besides, seems your digimon are being smashed by those digimon over there, shouldn't you go help them?" asked Hyryuu, pointing at Nefertimon and another digimon being thrown to the floor.  
  
"Nefertimon! Aquilamon!" shouted Kari  
  
"Go help them, we'll take care of the Prince and his goons!" exclaimed Kim.  
  
"Right!" answered back Kari, giving them a nod of appreciation before going to her digimon's side.  
  
"Sweet…very, very sweet…too bad that you won't be able to fulfill that." mocked the Prince.  
  
"We'll see about that!" shouted Catherine.  
  
"For Peace and Freedom! Knights of the Crests!" they all shouted in unison.  
  
"Get them! Let none of them live! Destroy them!" ordered the Prince to his shadow figures.  
  
At once, the figures charged at the kids. Kim and Catherine immediately took on one each, followed by Jin and Jonathan. Hyryuu took on Kaizer and Takato took on the Prince. Fierce fights sprang out between the kids and the figures, who kept changing opponents. Kim and Catherine seemed to be handling their fights quite badly. Their opponents were winning ground and one had actually gotten behind her and grabbed Kim's *cough* breast *cough* and then jumped out of the way of her counter-attack. Jonathan had then struck at the pervert from behind in such fury that they knew that the figure was dead as soon as they heard the skull crack.   
  
"Learn to treat women with proper respect, and stay away from my sisters!" he had told the figure before crashing his sword on the figure's head.   
  
Jin, on the other hand, was doing quite well, as she was taking on two enemies, Jonathan's and hers. She kept taunting them and hitting them with both sides of her staff. One time she twirled her staff with such force that it caused a small tornado to befall her enemies. They had flown away and hit a tree. Hyryuu and Kaizer kept dodging each other's attacks, hitting the other every now and then, but lightly. Takato and the Prince were still in a fierce deadlock, none would lose ground nor win any.   
  
"You're strong…no one has ever lasted this long against me or my elite Wraiths. Nor has anyone ever killed one of them. I'm impressed…why don't you join me? I can help you find that which you are looking for…"asked the Prince  
  
"Tempting…but no thanks, I'm always better off with my team alone!" replied Takato, "Besides, what would you know about TK? You'd probably have killed him if you met him for your own pleasure!" he finished and slashed at the Prince's sword, making it break.  
  
The Prince stood amazed at his enemy's strength and power. For awhile he stood still, and Takato did not move. Suddenly, the Prince let out a laugh so evil it sent chills through the kids.  
  
"So, you are searching for TK, or should I say, Takeru Takaishi…and I should guess you are also looking for Tai, or Taichi Kamiya??" asked the Prince with a mocking smile.  
  
Takato stood still, then gave the Prince a furious stare.  
  
"You have them prisoners! Let them free or else!" shouted Takato at the Prince.  
  
His shout had been so loud that all fighting stopped to see what was going on. The Prince smiled evilly and snapped his fingers, to which his servants all disappeared. His Wraiths literally sank into the ground and Kaizer sheathed his swords. Kari, Davis, and their team stood still as they looked on. The kids had all surrounded the Prince.  
  
"Oh…I know where they are…but they are not prisoners, for sure…They are very close to here…at least…TK is…" he added with a chilling laugh, "shall I show you? Yes I shall…but first, get that girl with the short chestnut hair over here, or TK dies." he threatened.  
  
"Kari?" asked Takato to her.  
  
"I'll do it" she said as she walked to the Prince.  
  
"Good…now, get closer to me…and NO tricks" he added.  
  
Kari obeyed in spite of her friends' warnings. The Knights said nothing and just watched and stood on their guard. As soon as she was really near to the Prince, he laughed. She looked on in absolute confusion. He then put a hand on her cheek and then he slowly kissed her on the lips. Takato was looking on and suddenly was shocked. The Prince's hair was turning from black, long and spiky to golden, messy, and spiky. His clothes changed from black armor to the clothing that TK used to wear. On his head, instead of a crown was TK's old fisherman's hat. The Prince, or should I say, TK, then ended the kiss. Yet he still had the evil look of the Prince, so they knew that TK was evil.  
  
"T…TK?" asked Kari slowly.  
  
"Hello…Kari, dear." he answered.  
  
"Oh my god…TK…what happened to you?" she asked.  
  
"What happened?" he started, with a cold and furious look, "WHAT HAPPENED? YOU HAPPENED, THAT'S WHAT!" he roared at her. Kari stepped back from him. "I loved you…I loved you with all my heart, and you LIED TO ME FROM THE BEGINNING! YOU NEVER LOVED ME! YOU LOVED DAVIS! I came here in order to run away from you and HIM…fortunately, I was found by the Emperor, to whom his own love has also broken his heart. He told me we'd get revenge, and that's all I want…revenge towards you and Davis…as for Tai, he's alive, but go figure where he is. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a Digiworld to conquer, and you and Davis to capture, torture, and kill. Goodbye, Kari" he finished, before turning back into the Prince and disappearing along with Kaizer. Kari then sank to her knees. Takato was able to catch her on her way down.  
  
"TK…is the Dark Prince? Unbelievable!" exclaimed Jonathan  
  
"TK…no…" whimpered Kari.  
  
"We better get her back to Nancy's house quick!" Takato told the others.  
  
Hyryuu and Jonathan nodded and went scouting up ahead for a television. They soon came back saying that they had found one near there. Takato carried Kari all the way to the television and as soon as everyone, even Kari's team, was there, he transported them back to Nancy's house…they had a lot of explaining to hear and do.  
  
=======================  
They had landed in Kim and Catherine's room. Jonathan and Takato quickly left the room to find Nancy while the others tried to calm Kari down before she went into a mental breakdown. Soon, Takato and Hyryuu came back with Nancy who had a hopeful, yet fearful look on her face. Takato was the first to ask the long awaited question.  
  
"What the hell do we do?" he asked.  
  
"We can't kill the Prince…we'd kill TK…" said Hyryuu  
  
"But what was he talking about? Kari, did you really betray TK like that?" Jonathan asked Kari suddenly.  
  
"NO! I would never do that! I love him with all my heart! I could never do that to him!" she cried before bursting into tears.  
  
"Then…there are two possibilities that answer our question as to why TK turned evil…" started Jonathan, "One, he was made into believing that this happened to him or…" he stopped thoughtfully  
  
"Or what?" asked a girl with purple hair that was beside Kari, trying to comfort her.  
  
"He isn't TK, that he's some sort of humanoid form with chameleonic capabilities and that the real TK is either dead, or that he's prisoner." finished Jonathan.  
  
At hearing this, Kari burst into tears again.  
  
"He's not dead" said a voice from behind. "That was the real TK, but then again…you'll never be able to find him or convince him to desert me ever again!" finished the voice.  
  
All the Knights turned to see who the person was and they all gasped, for it was Tai. Behind him stood Sora in chains and TK, who was once more in his Dark Prince form.  
  
"Hey mom, miss me? Hope so, cuz you'll miss me even more after I'm through with you people!" greeted TK.  
  
"TK! Tai! Guys, we gotta protect Nancy and the others!" ordered Takato.  
  
"Oh no you don't, not this time, bub." TK said, before shooting paralyzing darts at each of them. "We're taking Kari and Davis…plus Yolei over there, Kaizer really wants to meet her."  
  
"Over my dead body!" shouted Davis before putting himself between them and the girls.  
  
"Puny…Tai, may I?" asked TK with an evil smile.  
  
"Go ahead, Dark Prince." he replied with an evil smile.  
  
"Thank you, dear Emperor." he thanked before throwing off his cape and armor to the floor. "Come on Davis, hit me with your best shot!"  
  
Davis lunged at TK and punched him in the cheek. TK didn't flinch.   
  
"Was that it? I must say, I am disappointed, here, I'll show you what a real punch feels like!" he screamed before punching Davis in the face, throwing him into the wall at full force.  
  
"There, now without anymore interruptions, let's go. Kaizer, take the boy and the girl. I'll personally take care of dear old Kari…" he said with an evil smile.  
  
Tai and Sora were the first to disappear, followed by Kaizer, Yolei, and Davis. Before disappearing, TK looked back at them and smiled evilly.  
  
"I must say, this was a meeting fit for a Prince. A Dark one, that is" he finished with an evil laugh.  
  
As soon as he disappeared, the kids felt their body return to them and they were able to move. After being silent for a while, Takato smashed his fist against a nearby wooden table. He then let out a furious war cry. He had failed to protect his friends.  
  
"If you keep doing that, you're fist will break, and then how will you beat the Prince and the Emperor?" asked someone from the door.  
  
Takato looked at who had said that and then let out a surprised gasp. At the door was what he could tell was an Elf, but not any Elf, an Angelic Elf, clad in white robes and two angel wings protruding from his back.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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A/N: Holy Moly, I never thought I'd write a CHAPTER as long as this…nor have I ever tried though…Remember people, this is chapter 1. Next up is an explanation as to who the Elf is and his mission, also with encounters between the Imperial Forces and the Knights. Also in the Next chapter is the Siege of Factorial Town. This next chapter ought to be good. 


	2. The Siege of Factory Town

Knights of the Crests Worldwide  
Switzerland  
  
Note: This is chapter 2! I can't believe this is bringing in so much inspiration! Whatever though…must focus on my story…  
Note: The fact that there are nine Riders and nine Pendant Bearers are totally coincidental. Also, I used Legolas as the Elf's name because I could not think of anything else. Plus, the characters from Lord of the Rings that will appear and any reference to them are totally by my will…BUT that does not mean I own them, though I must say Lord of the Rings are wonderful books…  
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR LORD OF THE RINGS OR ANY OTHE SHOW CHARACTER THAT APPEARS IN THIS FIC.  
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The Siege of Factory Town  
  
"Who the hell are you?" asked Takato at the recently arrived stranger.  
  
"Cautious…very good…I see Angelique has teached you well…glad my wife could help at least a bit." said the Elven Angel.  
  
"Angelique is you wife?" asked a bewildered Kim  
  
"Yep, my wife all right…she's great, isn't she? All nice and sweet and all." he said.  
  
"Sure is, she's been like a mother to us!" exclaimed proudly Hyryuu.  
  
"Good, then she must of shown you the proper things about your Pendants. I am here to show you the next level of their power, as well as to protect you while you're in the digital world. Is that clear?" he asked to the kids.  
  
"Crystal" they all said in unison.  
  
"Ok then, we better head off back to the digital world." said Takato.  
  
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Takato" said Nancy suddenly.  
  
"The reason being…?" he asked  
  
"Tomorrow I have to return to Geneva for some work. You're welcome to come along" she said.  
  
At once everyone's eyes were turned towards Takato. At this, he sweatdroped.  
  
"Uh…what? Me choose? I don't think so…" he said stepping back towards the wall.  
  
"You ARE the leader, aren't you?" inquired he Elf.  
  
"Well…yes…I guess so…" stammered Takato  
  
"Then it's YOUR choice that counts. Now decide quickly!" exclaimed the Elf.  
  
"Well…I guess…I guess we can go…after all…we are here for a LITTLE bit of fun aren't we?" he decided.  
  
Catherine and Kim whooped in happiness and Jin just smiled. Jonathan and Hyryuu were both smiling at him. Then, Hyryuu turned to the Elf.  
  
"By the way, you never told us your name…what IS your name anyway?" he asked.  
  
"I have many names, but you can call me Legolas." said the Elf.  
  
"Alright, Legolas, let's get moving!" said Catherine, grabbing Legolas by the arm and dragging him outside. "We got lots of shopping to do for you! You can't walk in a city in those clothes!"  
  
Legolas' face became one of shock and fear as Catherine, now helped by Kim and Christine, were pulling him out. Legolas poked his head through the door with a face pleading for help. Takato and Hyryuu burst out in laughter.  
  
"I'm afraid they're right, Legolas, you can't be seen throughout the city in those clothes. They're fit for the Digiworld, no more." said Jonathan, at the brink of laughter.  
  
Legolas gave one last cry before the girls successfully got him out of the house. As soon as Legolas gave his cry, Jonathan finally burst out in laughter. About two hours later, the girls came back with Legolas, who was wearing a white shirt and long green pants. He was also wearing a black belt. The girls pushed him into the house and put down a mountain of shopping bags. Takato and Hyryuu sweatdroped at the site.  
  
"Uh…isn't that a wee bit too much stuff you bought?" asked Takato, pointing at the packets.  
  
"Nah, that's just the first load, there is still some more outside." commented Christina  
  
The boys' jaw dropped at this announcement. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Legolas then came out of the kitchen with Nancy.  
  
"Alright then, we leave for Geneva first thing in the morning. So get ready quick, got it?" he asked the group.  
  
"Got it" they all answered.  
  
They then all left for their rooms so that they could pack up. For this night, Legolas would sleep in Jonathan's room and Jonathan would sleep with Takato in his room. The night passed quickly and the following morning Nancy was preparing her van and another, which Legolas would drive. As soon as Nancy's car had left the house with the girls, the boys finished loading their car and got in. When they got in and put on their seat belts, they noticed that Legolas was acting nervously as he looked at the driving instruments.  
  
"What's wrong? Drive on!" shouted Takato  
  
Legolas nodded nervously and began to press the accelerator.  
  
"Wait a minute…you DO know how to drive this thing, right?" asked Takato to Legolas.  
  
Legolas said nothing  
  
"Right?" he asked again  
  
Nothing.  
  
"I have a BAD feeling about this trip…" commented Jonathan  
  
Legolas then pressed the pedal fully and the car launched itself forward. One thing they would regret of the roads of the Swiss Alps is that it is mostly made up of curves.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! Brake! Press the bloody BRAKE!" shouted Jonathan on the second tight curve they encountered.  
  
"Oh god! We're gonna die!" whined Hyryuu when they were halfway through.  
  
"Tell me when it's over!" said Takato when he saw the curves that were left to drive through.  
  
About two hours later, they finally arrived at the highway that lead to Geneva. Since it was mostly straight and with little amount of curves, they made it through fairly quick, considering Legolas was always pressing the accelerator. Since Takato had been informed about the hidden cameras that were on the sides of the highway to see who went faster than allowed, he had Legolas make the car look so blurry on the film that it was impossible to recognize or make out in any way, this being guaranteed by Hyryuu, who was a tech wiz. They finally arrived at the city itself after about a half-hour of driving through the highway at top speed. They then convinced Legolas to release the pedal a bit so that they could go more slowly, since there were a lot of pedestrians.  
  
"Ok, which of us has the address of the place?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"I think Jonathan has it" said Legolas as he looked backwards towards Hyryuu  
  
"LOOK STRAIGHT!" shouted Hyryuu, Jonathan, and Takato at the same time.  
  
Legolas complied right away.  
  
"Yeah, I have it, here, let me get it out…" said Jonathan as he got out a piece of paper from his pocket, "…here it is…it is three streets from here to the north…then four buildings away from the Swiss Bank…right across the lake…that's the meeting place…alright, let's go!" he finished, as he got the paper back into his pocket.  
  
After about an hour trying to get to the place, mostly because Legolas got them lost three times, they got to the meeting place, which was an observatory by the Lake of Geneva. Nancy's car was gone but the girls were all there, even Christina and Hikaru, who had their parents' permission to go, after they met Jonathan and Takato, who had explained everything, except for any Digiworld or Pendants subjects.  
  
"What took you so long? We've been waiting for two hours! Nancy is gone to her place to make sure everything is straight." Kim said.  
  
"We had some err…transportation problems." explained Jonathan.  
  
Legolas immediately hid his face. Catherine and Christine grinned.  
  
"I don't want to know, so don't tell me." Kim said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
"We had no intentions to do so" the boys said in unison.  
  
"Riiiiiiiiiight…anyway, let's go site seeing since we're here doing nothing!" Christina proposed, eying Jonathan particularly.  
  
Since Jonathan was a total gentleman, and was indeed fairly interested in Christina, he blushed and accepted the idea. Yet, as Takato and Hyryuu are sharp-eyed, they noticed this and grinned evilly at Jonathan. He in turn noticed this and gulped. Then, as if fate wanted to spare Jonathan from total humiliation, his watch started to beep. Both Takato and Hyryuu snapped their fingers and turned on their own transmitters, then followed by the rest except Legolas, who watched over Takato's shoulder. As always, Angelique's holographic image appeared. She gave a small cry of joy as she saw Legolas.  
  
"Legolas! I knew the Council was sending someone, but I never imagined it would be you! " she cried  
  
"Yeah, I know, honey, glad to see you too. What's the matter?" he said, as he preferred not to say out loud what he really intended to say to his wife.  
  
"Well…seems our friends the Imperials have taken File and set up their main base there, all entry is practically impossible since they have heavily fortified the whole island. Beach, mountain, forest, and Ice-lands are impenetrable. You must find a way to get there and destroy that base! This order comes straight from the Council Head! I'm logging off, and remember, be careful!" she told them.  
  
"Roger that, see you in ten months!" said Takato, as she disappeared.  
  
Takato smiled as he turned off his transmitter but then saw that Legolas was day-dreaming.  
  
"Legolas?" he asked, passing his hand in front of Legolas' face, "Hey, are you there still?"  
  
"He's day-dreaming…" sighed Kim  
  
"HEY, LEGOLAS! WAKE UP TIME!" shouted Hyryuu in Legolas' ear, snapping the Elf out of his dream.  
  
"Huh? What? What's the matter?" he asked  
  
"Time to go to the Digiworld! Let's go find a computer!" exclaimed Jonathan.  
  
"Oh, right…well, I brought a laptop along, specially built for Guardians for occasions like this." Legolas said as he got out a pure white laptop.  
  
"Great!" shouted Takato, "Let's get out of sight!" he ordered  
  
"Wait!" shouted Kim  
  
"What?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"We can't leave Christina and Hikaru alone here in the middle of the city!" she said  
  
"He's right, brother, we can't!" Jin said  
  
"Besides, we really would like to be there with you people in that other world!" said Hikaru  
  
"Legolas?" asked Takato, as he turned to the Elf, who had a thoughtful look.  
  
"Well…I can get them there…" he started  
  
"But…?" pressed Catherine  
  
"But they cannot go like this…in their current state…they are not Destined Children, nor Knights or Sorceresses, and they are not Guardians…So the only way would be to make them either into a Guardian like me and forfeit their normal way of life and family…or they could become Bearers of the Pendants…their choice" he added with a shrug.  
  
"Well? What do you say girls?" asked Takato to Christina and Hikaru  
  
They both looked at each other for a while, as if having a mental conversation and then nodded at each other.  
  
"We'll become Bearers!" both shouted.  
  
"Then it is settled, I name you, Christina, Sorceress of Faith, which will awaken with a Cross." He told her, as he gave her a pendant with a weird cross that seemed the crossing of a cross with the crest of Reliability and the crest of Courage. Then he turned to Hikaru, "To you, Hikaru, I name you Sorceress of Creation, which will awaken by a Planet." he finished by giving her a pendant with the Earth on it, which was being orbited by a small dot.  
  
"Ok, NOW can we go?" asked Takato to the girls  
  
"Sure! Let's go!" they all said.  
  
They all followed him into an alley, which was deserted, by the way, and got near to the laptop. Takato got out his pendant and introduced it into the screen.  
  
"Digiworld UNLOCK!" he shouted, before a light engulfed his team and afterwards nothing was there. On Legolas' car was a small note left for Nancy explaining where they were and what had happened.  
  
They now had landed in an open plain, that was being struck by a slight breeze. Like for the Destined, their clothes changed. The boys were wearing a brown, long-sleeved shirt and long green pants and had a cloak on them. The girls were in a blue, long-sleeved shirt and were wearing long, white skirts. They also wore a cloak. Yet these seemed different from the ones they had first gotten.  
  
"These are Elven-made cloaks…if you're wondering" Legolas said, as he realized he was in his Elf clothes once again. He also made sure he had his dagger, bow, and quiver with him, "Ok, I got everything I had, how about you kids?" he asked them  
  
They all checked their clothes and all found that they wore swords, in the case of boys, or bows and quivers, in the case of girls. They all faced Legolas for an explanation.  
  
"Well…the Council found out that the Prince somehow managed to build something that can trace your pendant's power back to you, so we decided that instead of using them in every case of danger, that we should use them under extreme danger only. For all other dangers, you are to defend yourselves with the weapons that you now carry." he told them.  
  
They all looked at him with dumbstruck faces. He shrugged and led them forward through the plains.  
  
"Say, Legolas, why aren't there any wings on your back nor your white robes?" asked Jin  
  
"Well, since the wings are kind of heavy, and the robes do not allow much agility, I decided to use my Elfish Bowman form that you now see." he explained to Jin.  
  
"Oh, I see…" she replied with a smile, to which he smiled back.  
  
After about an hour of traveling, they came upon a rock formation in the middle of the plains. Legolas stopped there and decided to stop for a break. The boys took opportunity of this to train in the sword arts. Since none of them had much experience in swords except Takato and Jonathan, though very inadequate, they were a bit clumsy. Legolas, though, taught the girls how to use a bow and let an arrow fly every half minute and still hitting the target in the center. After about a half-hour of training, they put down their weapons and began to relax. After a while, Legolas suddenly jerked his head upwards from where he was sitting, which was the tip of a rock that was facing upwards. He got up and seemed to listen more thoroughly before he jumped off and faced the kids with an alarmed face.  
  
"Quick! Hide! Something is nearing our position!" he ordered them.  
  
The kids quickly got their gear and weapons and ran towards cover. Soon afterwards, they could listen clearly the sound of hooves on the ground. Takato peeked his head to see what they were and saw three Pegasusmon in dark armor with what seemed to be Black Knights. Behind them came another group of Dark Pegasusmon that was being ridden by females. In total, they amounted to nine riders. Behind them were several normal Pegasusmon that were tied to each other by a strong-looking rope. On their forehead was a black plate. Legolas crept silently, for that was a skill of the Elves.  
  
"Takato, we could free those Pegasusmon and use them…but we would have to fight those Dark Knights and women…yes, even the women, as they seem hostile and murderous…gather the boys, it seems they will stop here for something. I'll get the girls." Legolas told Takato, who nodded and went for the boys.  
  
Indeed, the Riders stopped at the formation and the Knights took off their helmets, revealing human beings. The women that accompanied them took off the hood of their dark cloaks and also revealed themselves to be human. Takato had successfully summoned Jonathan and Hyryuu from their hiding spot quietly and they were all three beside a big rock, waiting for a signal. All three slowly unsheathed their swords and got ready to fight. Beside a rock farther away were Legolas and the girls. They were waiting for the right time to strike. Then, as soon as the Riders were all inside the crescent rock formation, Legolas gave a cry and the girls unloosened their bows, letting arrows fly. Back where Takato was, they heard the cry and gave themselves a battle cry and charged out of their hiding place.  
  
"What in the name of the Prince?" asked the leader of the Riders, putting back on his helmet.  
  
"Lionheart!" shouted Takato as his sword glowed red-orange  
  
"White Star!" shouted Hyryuu as his sword glowed blue-white  
  
"Clasher!" shouted Jonathan as his sword glowed gold-silver  
  
"FIRE!" shouted Legolas to the girls, making them unloosen their bows, letting the arrows fly once more upon the Riders, who took cover with the rocks. Takato was fighting head to head with the leader while Hyryuu and Jonathan took on his partners. For awhile Takato and the boys were in a deadlock with their foes, until some of the arrows shot by the girls finally hit one of the Knights in the shoulder, disabling his fighting arm. The leader saw this and feeling uneven, he ordered a retreat, to which the other Knights and Sorceresses complied and left with their Dark Pegasusmon, leaving the normal ones behind. Takato and Legolas went towards them and Legolas took out his dagger. He aimed one well-placed blow on the rope and it split. Takato, on the other hand, managed to take off the plates from the Pegasusmon's forehead. Knowing what had happened, the Pegasusmon thanked them telepathically through Legolas. After explaining their situation, the Pegasusmon agreed to let themselves be used by the kids and Legolas. After mounting the Pegasusmon, they flew away over the plains. At one point, many miles away from where they started, they went back to the ground so that the digimon could rest for awhile. At this point, Legolas turned quiet and gazed away into the sky. Takato and Hyryuu were busy planning strategy against the Black Bearers, as they chose to call the people they had previously seen. Kim, Catherine, and Hikaru were all at one side chit-chatting, something that the boys had a bad feeling about. Then, finally, in another place near the encampment, but out of view, Jonathan and Christina were both sitting on a log they had found. They were both watching intently to the sky, were stars were starting to appear, as night was approaching. Back at camp, Jin approached Legolas with a curious look on her face.  
  
"Legolas?" she asked  
  
"Yes, Jin?" he replied  
  
"Isn't it time for us to go back to our world?" she asked.  
  
"We can't…I was thinking the same thing until I got this…" he started, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket in his Elven cloak, "It's a note from the Council…they command me to stay here until this crisis is solved. The command applies to you kids too…I'm sorry." he said with a sad look.  
  
"But…but Angelique won't let that happen to us, would she?" she asked  
  
"She wouldn't, I'm sure of it…but she doesn't stand a chance alone if she fights the Council's decision…" he said.  
  
"Then why are we-" she started before Takato came running towards them.  
  
"Legolas! Jin! They're here! All around the camp!" he cried  
  
"Who? Who are here?" asked Legolas, bringing out his bow.  
  
"The Black Bearers, and the Prince to make it worse!" explained Takato  
  
"How far are they from here?" Legolas asked  
  
"About two miles away, but they are closing in from every side! We can't hold them off, since we're even but they have the Prince, which unevens it." he hurried.  
  
"Dang it! We have to escape! Get the others, we must ride at once! Jin, get the Pegasusmon! I'll see how they progress towards us!" ordered Legolas, before running off to another direction.  
  
Takato nodded and went to find the others and Jin went for the Pegasusmon. After Takato had gotten everyone together again, they all mounted on their respective Pegasusmon and rode on. A few minutes later, Legolas came from the back on his Pegasusmon ridding at full speed. Behind him, they could see several black figures approaching, encouraging them to accelerate their own speed. Soon, they could see a black figure ahead of them, at which Legolas gave a cry of relief.  
  
"It's Factory Town! We must get within it's walls! Ride on at full speed!" he ordered the kids.  
  
They all acknowledged and made their Pegasusmon speed up. Soon, they could distinctively make out the large buildings of the city. After awhile, they finally made it to the gates, where, by orders of the Chosen Children, they were allowed to enter. Right after they had all entered, the guards of the gate went inside too and shut the gate and locked, barred, and made it almost impossible to be opened. The kids gave a sigh of relief and went to the central tower. As soon as they arrived, Matt was there to receive them. He had the look of a man who had not slept for days.  
  
"Am I glad to see you people…man, me and Izzy have been stuck in that tower for days trying to solve this jigsaw puzzle. By the way, you're name wouldn't have to be Legolas, would it?" he asked Legolas  
  
"It is, why?" he inquired  
  
"There are some people who want to see you in the main chamber, and they do not look very happy." he warned him.  
  
Legolas just gave a nod of apprehension, though Jonathan could feel his fear radiating from him. They followed Matt up to top of the tower, where they entered a room. In this room were four individuals in cloaks with their hoods up. Here they left Legolas and were led by Matt up a flight of stairs into the command room were Izzy was waiting for them. Back were Legolas was, one of the figures, who seemed to be the leader, approached Legolas.  
  
"Long time no see, Legolas, my friend." said the man  
  
"Do I know you? Where you sent by the Council?" he replied  
  
"You don't remember me? Well then, maybe this poem will." replied the man as he stepped back.  
  
Slowly, the three other figures went to their leader's side and slowly began reciting a poem.  
  
"Three rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky…"  
  
"Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone…"  
  
"Nine for mortal men, doomed to die…"  
  
"One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne."  
  
The eyes of Legolas seemed to shine in wonder and happiness as he finished the poem.  
  
"In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,  
One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them,  
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,  
In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie…" he finished  
  
Slowly, one by one, they all dropped their hoods, revealing two men, young and fair, one old man, whose eyes seemed to burn with fire, and the smallest of them revealed the face of an old, but still vigorous dwarf.  
  
"Aragorn! Boromir! Gandalf! Gimli! How…what…why are you here?" he asked them.  
  
"Well, for one thing, the Council has let us pay a visit to our old friend. For another thing, we are here to supervise you and your, Fellowship, shall we call it? On their mission." said Aragorn.  
  
"Marvelous, just like old times, no? But where is Frodo? And Sam, Merry, and Pippin?" he inquired  
  
"Unfortunately, they could not come, Frodo is too old to come here and the other three have turned into good old fashioned hobbits again…they want to hear nothing of any adventure." explained Gandalf.  
  
"I see, too bad then…say, Aragorn, how is Arwen? Last time I was in our world, she had died, but I know she went to the Council's world like you and the others" asked Legolas  
  
"She's fine, thank goodness…and I don't get called Elessar so much either, again, thank goodness…"sighed Aragorn.  
  
"Well then, shouldn't we go see how this new Fellowship is doing? I saw them go up the stairs." said Gimli  
  
"Of course, I almost forgot! Let's go so I can introduce you to them!" apologized Legolas.  
  
They all nodded and went up the stairs. Back upstairs, with Izzy, the kids had all engaged him in an all-out asking contest.  
  
"Okay, now what?" asked Takato  
  
"We can't get out of the city, the enemy has surrounded it with his knights and dark digimon!" exclaimed Izzy  
  
"So what do we do?" repeated Jonathan  
  
"Wait for them to leave?" asked Hyryuu in a sarcastic tone  
  
"Well, that is our best choice right now, since we cannot leave this place" replied Izzy  
  
"But they won't leave! We have to do something!" pressured Kim  
  
"Yeah! We know the Prince has the patience of a boulder, so we can't count on waiting, because he'll wait too!" exclaimed Catherine  
  
"Plus, there isn't enough digimon in this town for us to attack them back, do we?" asked Hikaru  
  
"We have to think of something!" pressured Christina  
  
Behind them, Matt was sweat dropping as he saw this scene. Behind him was Legolas and his crew who had just arrived and they were also a bit surprised at the scene.  
  
"This is your crew? Master Pippin wasn't even as curious as this!" whispered Gandalf to Legolas, who nodded.  
  
"I pity you my friend…" said Gimli  
  
"Thanks…I think." replied Legolas  
  
Right about then they all felt an enormous quake happen.  
  
"Ok…who felt that? If you did, raise your hands" asked Takato  
  
They all raised their hands.  
  
"Ok…Izzy is this place usually quaky?" he asked  
  
"No, absolutely not" replied Izzy  
  
"Ok…so what the hell was that?" asked Jonathan  
  
Just then, another quake, just as big, occurred  
  
"Alrighty then…someone please tell us what happened here?" asked Hikaru  
  
At this, a Guardromon ran up the stairs and quickly came to a halt before them  
  
"The Prince is making his digimon pound our walls with their attacks. We will not be able to resist for more than two weeks, if our calculations are correct" it said with a mechanical tone.  
  
Izzy slapped his forehead at the announcement.  
  
"Sometimes I hate it when they are so precise…the information is usually correct…" he sighed.  
  
"O…K…so…NOW what do we do?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"Well…we could try to break out and counter-attack…" proposed Jonathan  
  
"The probabilities of success for that are less than 1 to a trillion, sir." answered the Guardromon.  
  
Again, Izzy slapped his forehead.  
  
"Someone turn him off before he takes away any last drop of hope…" muttered Izzy.  
  
The Guardromon seemed to hear him, for at once it shut itself down. Izzy gave a relieved sigh and turned his attention back to the others.  
  
"Ok, so break out is a bad idea…we have two weeks to do something or they'll be inside in no time." he summed up.  
  
"Yep, that's basically it, all right…" said Takato  
  
Just then, an alarm went off throughout the whole city.  
  
"Seems the Prince is taking no breaks…he's moving half of his force to the other gates…this isn't good, we're absolutely stranded and the only available garrison here are the Guardromon and some other digimon, that's it!" Izzy exclaimed as he checked a console near the viewing window.  
  
"Anyone got any bright ideas?" asked Takato  
  
"From today, we have thirteen more days to impending break in…thirteen, people…so any ideas we get, ANY of them, as weird and strange as they may seem, will be considered…just NO fantasying…remember, this whole city depends on you few." Gandalf told them.  
  
  
A/N: As of now, the days will be said in the following mode: Day 1, Day 2, you get the point.  
------------------------  
Day 1- Hope Arises from the Hopeless  
------------------------  
Right after their meeting in the tower, the kids and Legolas' friends all went downstairs into the dormitory area. The girls would share one room, while the boys shared another. Of course, the boys' room was quite big, seeing their number. After getting changed into, what they called, normal clothes, Legolas and his friends went out for a stroll, "to get ideas" had said Aragorn when inquired by Jonathan and Hyryuu. Takato, Hikaru, and Hyryuu were hunched on a table looking at some maps and designs, often arguing about this or that. Jonathan was busy reading some books about warfare and studying maps of the city and it's surroundings. Jin was asleep in her bed, taking a nap. The girls, as ignorant as they were on warfare, except for Hikaru, who seemed to have a dormant talent for it, were busy trying to understand everything that was happening. They were all sitting around a table at a small, open restaurant in the city, trying to find out what help they could be.  
  
"What CAN we do? I mean, we know nothing of warfare, mainly because we were never interested in it and so now we're completely ignorant!" exclaimed Kim.  
  
"We have to learn, then. I don't want to sit around here doing nothing and helping no one." said Christina  
  
"We have two weeks to learn about warfare? It isn't enough, and even if it was, we wouldn't be the best students in it since it isn't appealing." argued Catherine.  
  
Just then, an android-like digimon walked by and stopped when he heard Catherine's comment. His head turned towards then and seemed to scan them before completely turning towards them. The girls noticed this and seemed curious.  
  
"Yes? How can we help you?" asked Kim  
  
"You are the Bearers, correct?" asked the digimon  
  
"Correct…" replied Catherine  
  
"I am Andromon, an old acquaintance of the Chosen Children. I was on my way to the central tower to pay Izzy a visit, actually." he told them  
  
"So? What does that have to do with us?" asked Christina  
  
"I heard your friend here say it was not possible for you three to learn the art of warfare in two weeks." he told them  
  
"Really? Mind telling us something? Here, have a seat." Kim said, as she pulled a chair up.  
  
"Thank you. Anyway, I must say I disagree with your friend here."  
  
"How so?" asked Christina  
  
"One cannot learn, by conventional ways, the art of warfare. It is impossible. The only way to learn it is from experience, and even then, you are not thinking about learning it." he told the girls, who returned confused looks. "Let me elaborate. Through books one can learn about the basics of things, but that does not mean that you have learned it. Most of the learning has to be lived through in order to understand. Your friends are knowledgeable in the art of warfare because they have mostly only lived in a world filled with it. They accept the fact that the world is never stable and is in constant war. Through this acceptance, they have learned of the methods and tactics of war and have later used them in battle. Here is another example. When the Chosen arrived in this world for the first time, there were only seven of them, all scared and wanting to go home. Later on, through battle after battle, they learned and became both wiser and stronger in the art of warfare and morality. They not only grew physically, but also mentally, as their brains had kept learning on and on about survival and conquest. After Myotismon entered the real world, they were fighting on home land, so they couldn't risk destroying their city and so didn't attack frontally. Instead, they chose, under Tai's leadership, to go into guerrilla warfare, hitting here and there, and finally, the big strike on the bad guys. It proved to be a good strategy." he told them  
  
Catherine, though, was still unimpressed  
  
"What's your point?" she asked  
  
"That they could of never have chosen strategies from a book. In some cases you might, but in the case of Odaiba, it was not possible to use any conventional guerrilla tactic, and modern weapon turned out to be useless, isn't that right?" he asked them, at which they nodded. "So you see, according to the place, time, or force size, strategy will change, no doubt about it. Now if you will excuse me, I must go to the central tower." he told them, before getting up and leaving, after bowing to them, of course.  
  
After he left them, the girls all looked at each other and then bowed their heads. Finally, after about five minutes, Kim spoke up.  
  
"Listen, Andromon is right, we might not know anything about it, but we can sure as hell learn!" she said with enthusiasm.  
  
"Yeah, you're right. We can learn!" replied Catherine  
  
"Yeah!" shouted Christina in approval.  
  
They all looked at each other again and then nodded and went running for the central tower. As soon as they got there, they ran up the stairs to where their friends were. Takato and Hyryuu were still analyzing and arguing about stuff, Hikaru trying to calm them down, while Jonathan was still checking out some maps. The girls went to Jonathan at once.  
  
"Jonathan?" asked Kim  
  
"Yes, sister?" he replied  
  
"Listen, Christina, Catherine, and I are kind of fed up of sitting around uselessly, so we thought you could teach us how to analyze and make up strategy." she continued.  
  
Jonathan looked at her with wide eyes of shock.  
  
"Say that again?" he asked  
  
"In short, we want you to teach us about warfare" she replied  
  
But Jonathan was no longer there, he had run up to the dormitories and locked himself into the boys' room. Kim sighed and the other girls followed her towards Takato and Hyryuu. Yet, as soon as they were about to ask, a small beep rang in their wrist watches. Takato and Hyryuu activated them and a hologram of Jonathan appeared.  
  
"Watch out for the girls! They want us to teach them about warfare!" it cried.  
  
The boys suddenly looked up and saw the three girls approaching, making their faces turned white. They instantly ran up he stairs into the dormitories with Jonathan, who then locked the door. For three straight hours the boys would not leave the room, until news that Aragorn and Boromir had chosen to teach the girls came to them. That evening, they all sat around a big circular table for diner. During diner, Jonathan was sitting beside Izzy and Christina, and was constantly talking to Izzy about some ideas. At the end of the diner, Izzy nodded at something Jonathan said and then got up and went to look for something. Boromir and Aragorn were the only ones who didn't turn their heads to see what was happening. Boromir then went towards Aragorn.  
  
"Aragorn, what in the heavens are we to do? Not one idea has occurred to us and for now, all that the future predicts is doom for this city, it's occupants and us. This is one of the only bastions of rebellion left on this island, we must do something!" he whispered to Aragorn.  
  
"Indeed, my friend, we must do something quickly…let us see what these children are planning before we make any acts." replied Aragorn  
  
"But Aragorn, these are only children!" protested Boromir  
  
"Have you forgotten that Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam were too? They were not "of age" yet, making them officially children to their kind. Children, do you hear me, Boromir? Children got the ring to be destroyed in Mount Doom. We must trust these children too." replied Aragorn.  
  
"But…oh, forget it, you're right about that…fine, we shall wait before acting" he finally agreed.  
  
Just as he had finished his sentence, Izzy came back into the room with a rolled up map. After every dish and dinning accessory was taken away by the Guardromon that had served them at the beginning. The map was that of Factory Town and it's surroundings. Then, Izzy got out some pins and other flat objects. He took one pin and stuck it on the town.  
  
"Ok, this pin represents where we are, ok?" he asked to see if they understood  
  
"Right…?" answered Takato  
  
"Ok, now look at this…" he began as he pointed to the north, south, east, and west of the town, and on each location he put a flat disk. "Each disk represents one army of the Prince. So if this is correct, we are completely surrounded from all directions, correct?" he asked them once more to see if they followed.  
  
"Right" answered Legolas  
  
"What are you getting at, Izzy?" asked Matt, who was becoming frustrated.  
  
"Well, we can't escape to any direction since we are completely blockaded, but…"he started, then removing the northern disk and placing another half it's size in it's place and putting another one, similar to the first, with the southern disk, "Intelligence has just told me that half of the Northern Army has moved to reinforce the Southern. This tells us something important." he said  
  
"That we should force our way through the North?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"No, that is exactly what they think we're going to do…you see, Jonathan pointed that out to me, for I had overseen that fact." he said, his face looking away in shame.  
  
"Oh my god! Izzy made a mistake! Someone call the news!" yelled Matt  
  
"Shut up. Now, what Jonathan told me was that whatever they expect us not to do, we do. They don't expect us to flee, or attack the Southern Army because of their size, but if I am correct, then that army will quickly return to it's previous size, or smaller." explained Izzy.  
  
Several nods appeared among the kids and the adults.  
  
"So, if I understand correctly, we are to force our way out into the South?" asked Gandalf  
  
"Exactly. We cannot attack and hold the position for long though, so the attack will merely be an attempt to send out a messenger out to the other towns not loyal to the Emperor. I know for a fact that Toy Town is not under the Emperor's control. Also you may want to try your chance in the Gekomon Palace." answered Jonathan.  
  
"Ok, but who is going out to send the message?" asked Gimli.  
  
"That is the hitch in our plan…we don't know…but in the next three days, we will be able to discern the messenger." said Izzy.  
  
"I see, well then, we should get to bed…I expect we shall all need it" finished Gandalf, before going to the dormitories.  
  
"He's right, you guys, you should really go to bed. You'll need all the strength available to you for the next three days." Izzy said  
  
"In other words, BED TIME!" ordered Matt, pointing to the dormitories for the kids.  
  
Takato and the gang groaned but went to bed. Meanwhile, Aragorn and his team was all gathered around a small round table.  
  
"We must take action. We cannot let this bastion of hope for this world fall." exclaimed Legolas  
  
"He's right, if we can, we should hack off the limbs of those who attack this town." agreed Gimli  
  
"For once, I agree with the Elf and Dwarf. We must do something to protect this town, Aragorn. I'll be damned if I die again without being able to protect the city which has given us hospitality." agreed Boromir.  
  
Aragorn said nothing but looked at Gandalf.  
  
"They are right, Aragorn, we must help these people. But then again, we have orders form the Council to watch over the children, no more. You were a king once, Elessar, so these kinds of decisions you have made. The choice is yours, Aragorn." he said  
  
They all sat silently, waiting for his verdict. For ten straight minutes they sat waiting, until finally, Aragorn lifted his head and looked at them, his eyes shinning.  
  
"We may have orders from the Council, but I feel the same as Boromir. I'll be damned if I die without helping the town which has given us hospitality. We will defend Factory Town! May the Council send their agents as they please, for they will all feel the same as we do!" he exclaimed finally.  
  
Boromir sat up and gave a approving yell, while Gimli got out his axe and gave Aragorn a thumbs up. Legolas got up and made a little victory dance, while Gandalf just sat silently, but was smiling.  
  
"As soon as the morning comes, we will make our own independent strike. This is totally covert, no one will know we did this. We will try to weaken the Southern Army for better chances of success when the town will make it's run. Agreed?" asked Aragorn  
  
Three approving yells and one smiling nod answered him.  
  
---------------------  
Day 2- A Strange Freedom  
---------------------  
They awoke the next day full of energy. The boys and Hikaru went at once to making plans. Christina, Catherine, and Kim went to the dining room, where Aragorn and Boromir were to teach them what they knew of strategy making. Out in the streets, Legolas and Gimli were heading for the walls of the city. There, they would wait for Boromir, Aragorn, and Gandalf. After they would all be together, they would sneak out of the city and summon the Shadow Army of the South of the Middle-Earth. Back at the tower, Aragorn and Boromir were making good progress with the girls. They gave the girls situations and the girls would have to decide what to do in those situations.  
  
"Here's another one…if you are in a mountain range and the enemy has surrounded it, but two hours later half of the enemy army goes to the north, what do you do?" asked Boromir.  
  
"Hum...tough one…because it may be a trap, but it also may not…so I would say that we send a scout first and see what happens…if the enemy stays as is, then it is no trap, but if the half that left comes back south, it is a trap." concluded Christina.  
  
"Good…that is the correct answer." agreed Boromir.  
  
A small ring rang at that moment.  
  
"Class is over, girls. Might want to help the boys out for now, see what you can learn." Aragorn told them.  
  
The girls nodded and left the room.  
  
"Time to go, Boromir. Legolas and Gimli must be getting impatient." Aragorn said.  
  
"Indeed, let's go" agreed Boromir.  
  
They both took their cloaks and put them on. Next, they checked that on one saw them and left the tower. They then proceeded to the walls of the city, where Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli were waiting.  
  
"All set? Good, let's go." ordered Aragorn, after putting his hood up, followed by his companions.  
  
Aragorn then led his crew to the a small, hidden door on the wall and opened it. After he and his friends were outside, he closed it and went forth towards the enemy. The evil digimon could see him, of course, but paid no attention to him. Aragorn then brandished Elendil and then, shooting his arm upwards, he shouted  
  
"Come forth, Army of Angmar! You have been summoned to your duty once more!" he shouted.  
  
Suddenly, there was a small, but violent rush of wind behind Aragorn and after it had left, behind Aragorn was an army of men, in chained armor and brandishing spear, swords, bows, and axes. There was also a cavalry waiting behind the footmen. In front of them stood the remnants of the Fellowship of the Ring: Aragorn, heir of Isildur, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Gandalf the White, and Boromir of Gondor. Boromir took out his sword, followed by Gimli with his axe, Legolas with his bow, and Gandalf with his sword. Aragorn then pointed his sword forward, towards the crowd of confused dark digimon and gave a battle cry, making his army rush at the digimon, him at the lead. Back at the central tower, Izzy was busy typing away at his computer when Matt burst in, making the door slam against the wall. His face seemed shocked and his heavy breathing suggested that he ran up the stairs.  
  
"What in the heavens is the matter with you, Matt?" asked Izzy, shocked himself.  
  
"Izzy, look out the southern window, quick!" shouted Matt.  
  
Izzy complied and ran to the southern window, and what he saw shocked him as much as it had shocked Matt. An army of something, he could not tell what, was rushing at the digimon army. The rushing army was gaining ground and quickly split the digimon army in two different groups. Izzy quickly took out a pair of binoculars and through them he saw that the new army was made up of men. What he then saw shocked him. Legolas and his friends were fighting side by side with the newcomers. Izzy put down his pair of goggles, and sensing an impending victory, he took out a small microphone, through which he could speak to the whole city, but he set it for only the tower.  
  
"Takato, Jonathan! Get your team ready in ten minutes and ride out the southern gate! Engage any digimon you see that is under the Prince's control!" he ordered.  
  
Soon, he saw through his binoculars eight riders come out the southern gate. Soon, all eight of the figures were engulfed in light and from it emerged eight armor-clad warriors. Izzy then turned to Matt and smiled.  
  
"We may still have a chance." he said, to which Matt nodded.  
  
Back to the battle field, Takato and his team had just arrived at the fighting area. They dismounted the Pegasusmon and sent them back to the city. Then they started engaging the enemy. The fight was still fierce, but the digimon army was slowly giving way. That is, until the big blast came. It came rushing down to the Earth, hitting it with such impact, that a crater would remain there until the end of days. When the explosion ceased, and the smoke cleared, the only things left standing were the Army of Angmar, the remnants of the Fellowship, and the Pendant Bearers. The digimon army had vanished, all destroyed by the explosion. Out of the remaining smoke came out the Prince and his Dark Bearers. The Prince had a foul look on his face as he looked at his opponents. He then motioned his hand forward, and form behind him rushed forward an army of digimon, both flying and ground.  
  
"Archers shoot the flying beasts! Footmen and cavalry, stay focused on the ground forces but dodge the aerial blasts!" shouted Boromir. At once the Shadow Army complied.  
  
As if he had expected this, the Prince smiled evilly and then snapped his fingers. A high, piercing screech could be heard from the distance. Out of the clouds dove a Dark Pegasusmon with Kari tied up on it, followed by two other Dark Pegasusmon, one with Davis and Yolei tied up, and the other with Kaizer. Right behind them came the Prince's flying fortress.  
  
"This doesn't look good…be on alert." warned Takato  
  
"Gee, you think so?" asked Hyryuu sarcastically.  
  
As soon as the Dark Pegasusmon touched the ground, the Prince went towards it, patted it's head and then pulled Kari off the digimon. He then got her up and pulled her towards his previous location.  
  
"Not this again…" whispered Jonathan  
  
The Prince smiled evilly at her and then pushed her towards his opponents. He then borrowed a dagger from Kaizer and cut her ropes. She turned to him in surprise, but only got an evil smile as a reply. She ran to her friends as quick as she could. As soon as she got to Takato, Hyryuu got her to be behind him and Takato, who was still looking at the Prince.  
  
"She's free…just be sure to keep her safe…or you might regret it, Takato" shouted the Prince before snapping his fingers again, making his digimon army and him disappear. The only ones left were the Dark Bearers and Kaizer. Behind them were a host of Knightmon. The Dark Bearer drew their swords and shields. The kids did the same (they were still in their armored form). For a while, a queer silence continued, until finally, The leader of the Dark Bearers gave a battle cry and they all charged the Bearers and the Shadow Army.  
  
"Leave the host to us! You go defeat those evil Bearers! Legolas, you help the kids!" ordered Aragorn, to which the kids and Legolas nodded. Yet, as soon as the two armies and Bearer groups clashed, the Dark ones and their digimon vanished. The sun was setting behind them, as the Bearers of the Crests looked in amazement at where their enemies had once been.  
  
-------------------  
Day 3- The Request  
-------------------  
As everything that lives in this and our world, all things must come to an end. After about four hours of waiting, the Dark Digimon Army left the surroundings of Factory Town. Kari had been taken into a medical lab for examinations. Takato stood outside the lab waiting. Suddenly, in front of him, appeared a hologram of TK, not the Prince, but TK, in his normal, kind form. Beside him was Pegasusmon, Patamon, Angemon, MagnaAngemon, and Seraphimon. All the digimon that had arisen from Patamon. The image then looked at him in the eyes and smiled a painful smile.  
  
"Takato…please, take care of Kari…" said the image.  
  
"TK! What…What do you mean?" asked Takato  
  
"Takato…I'm sorry…but it must be done…you must kill me in our next battle…or I will not be able to rest in peace." it replied  
  
"NO!" shouted back Takato "I will not kill you now, or ever!"  
  
"Takato…please…if you do this, Patamon and I will be able to rest in peace finally…The Prince is gaining power in my body…Please…it is all I ask…" it said again  
  
"NO! I will NOT! There must be another way!" shouted again Takato, on the verge of tears.  
  
"Takato…you were always a good friend…but to do this would not be to betray me, if would prove to me how good a friend you always were…" it said again, before vanishing.  
  
"TK! TK, come back…" he started, "TK!" he screamed, before passing out 


	3. The Meeting of the Council

Knights of the Crests World Wide  
Switzerland  
  
A/N: Hikaru-chan, you are going to LOVE this chapter.  
  
A/N: This can be considered the "love" chapter, as this will involve more of the love lives of the Bearers.  
  
Disclaimer: I OWN NO SHOW. This disclaimer will apply for future chapters and future shows that MAY come out.  
---------------------------------------------------*---------------------------------------------------  
The Meeting of the Council  
  
Takato slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was four blurry faces above him. One was red-haired and had a cross-shaped scar on his face, while the others were that of Legolas, Angelique, and Aragorn.  
  
"Kenshin, how is he?" asked Legolas.  
  
"Not too good I'm afraid…he must have gotten a nasty shock." replied the man with the red hair.  
  
Takato then remembered the request the image had made and shot up. The man reared his head just in time, but Legolas was not so fortunate. Takato's head hit Legolas' at full speed. Legolas then was knocked down to the ground by the impulse of the blow. Takato put a hand to his forehead, but Kenshin took it off. He then checked Takato's head but then gave a thumbs up. He left the room after saying a few words to Angelique and Aragorn. They both nodded and got Legolas to his feet. After repeating whatever Kenshin had told them to him, he nodded and went to Takato.  
  
"Takato, listen, it seems that the Council wants to meet you in person. For whatever reasons, I don't know. Yet in fifteen minutes you will sure enough know." he told him.  
  
Takato nodded. He was then given a pair of red robes bordered with gold by Angelique, and soon, after he was changed, the door burst open and in came his team, all dressed the same way he was, but in different colors, even Kari, Matt, and Izzy were there. Kenshin came right behind them.  
  
"Sorry, Angelique, Legolas. I couldn't stop them from coming in. They were so persistent." he apologized, to which Legolas laughed and Angelique giggled.  
  
"Kenshin, my friend, you apologize far too much. Anyway, I was about to let them in. An injured boy should have his family around him, and that includes friends." Aragorn told him. Kenshin nodded in reply and left.  
  
After bombarding Takato with questions, Legolas told them it was time for Takato's meeting with the Council. The kids nodded and calmed down. Legolas and Aragorn flanked Takato as they left the room, and Angelique was right behind him, one hand on his shoulder. They walked for five minutes through a long hall, until they finally came to a big golden door. Legolas went up and said something in another tongue, but the door seemed to know what it meant, for it opened slowly, but surely. Takato suddenly felt nervous, but Angelique gave him a sweet smile, taking away all nervousness. They then walked through the doorway and entered a room that was wholly white. At the back was one long stone slab, in the shape of a crescent. Behind that one was another one, but much smaller, in the same shape. Seated along the slabs were many different kinds of people. He could recognize Kenshin at one side, talking to a black-haired girl. On his other side was a dark-haired man with a kimono. Beside these three was a brown-haired boy and a brown-haired girl that sat next to the previous. These two were talking to each other and, from time to time, the girl would giggle. Beside the girl was a black-haired man and beside him was a man with glasses. Beside him was a girl in her late teens, and beside her were three empty spots. Beside that spot were four little people, whom seemed old, but their stature seemed inappropriate. In the smaller crescent were seated another one of these creatures, but much older than the others, a full-grown man with brown hair and a brown beard, and finally, at his side was a full-grown woman with ocean green hair. On both of the previous was a crown on their head.  
  
'Oh boy…am I in for it now…' though Takato.  
  
'Only if you think you are, my boy' came a reply, form practically nowhere.  
  
Then he saw that two other people had come into the room and taken two of the seats unavailable. One of them, the one with the messy golden hair, winked at him. Takato was about to say something when the King, as it appeared, rose, making all chattering stop. He then spoke up with a loud, yet royal and kind voice.  
  
"I, King Elsin, declare this meeting of the Council opened. Can Takato Taikashi please step forward?" he asked aloud.  
  
Takato felt as if he was rooted to the spot, but a gentle shove by Angelique allowed him to move once more. He stepped forward until he was in the middle of the room. A murmur arose from the Council, but quickly ended.  
  
"Very good. Now, will his guardians, or should I say, parents please step forward?" he asked once more.  
  
Legolas and Angelique stepped forward to Takato's side. The King smiled and then sat down. Then, the old, yet short man at the King's side rose onto his stool and in a clear voice asked:  
  
"My young fellow, you are the Knight of Hope, correct?" asked the old man.  
  
"Indeed, I am the Knight of Hope, sir." answered Takato  
  
"Quite a polite fellow we have here, eh, Bilbo?" asked one of the smaller creatures.  
  
A small laugh spread through the room, including Bilbo, the King, and the Queen laughed. Then, the man next to Kenshin gave a small, but very audible cough, bringing them back to reality. The old man got out a pair of glasses from his pocket and read from a piece of paper.  
  
"Takato Taikashi, yes…hum…it says here that you saw the image of TK, or known to us as the Dark Prince, appear in front of you while you waited for news of Kari Kamiya?" he asked to make sure.  
  
Takato nodded in reply. He did not like where this was going.  
  
"For a while, in your sleep, Councilor Kenshin Himura, here present, told us that you have been whispering in your sleep something about a request." further said Bilbo  
  
As Bilbo was about to continue, the brown-haired boy lifted a hand.  
  
"Bilbo, I think we should give this kid a rest. You've been talking and asking too long. Can you cut to the cheese?" he asked.  
  
"Uh…quite right, Kenchi, my boy. Very well…here's the direct version of what I was saying. We know of the request that was made by TK's image. Our question is: Will you do it?" he asked  
  
"Although he asked me to, I will NOT kill him" answered Takato in a firm, unbreakable voice.  
  
"I see…and the reason would be?" asked the King  
  
"He is the closest thing I have to a best friend. My team is made of other kids not of my family, I know that, yet they have no parents, like me. We became a family when Angelique appeared and from then, we consider ourselves brothers and sisters, with Angelique as our real mother. Back to the question, though. As I said, he is the closest thing I have to a best friend, no wait, he IS my best friend, and to kill him would not only kill me, but also his girlfriend Hikari. I would rather be torn apart by blade, steel, spear, and bullets before doing that kind of damage to anyone, no matter if it is my enemy, or if it my friend." he vowed  
  
The King and Queen seemed impressed and agreeing to the statement that was just made. The rest of the Council was quiet for a while, before one by one, they all started clapping. The first one to start applauding was the golden-haired man. From behind, Angelique and Legolas were smiling. Angelique had been deeply touched when he had told them all that they considered her their real mother. Aragorn, right beside Legolas, was smiling broadly. The King, from where he sat, at seeing this site, gave a smile.  
  
"From what has been heard here today, I think we have found our Chosen One. Takato Taikashi, We hereby name you the Defender of Hope. You will be charged to bring the Prince back to good. The Emperor will be brought back by a similar way, but with another Chosen. In order to fulfill your mission, new skills will have to be learned. Some of the Council members will be your teachers. Congratulations!" he declared with a smile. "This Council is now dismissed!" he then said.  
  
The Council members then slowly got out of the crescents and all joined Takato, Legolas, Aragorn, and Angelique. The King and Queen were just getting up and leaving their crescent when through the door burst in the rest of the Pendant Bearers. Takato smiled at them, and then Kim gave him a hug. The man with the golden hair had just finished shaking hands with Aragorn when he stepped up to Takato.  
  
"Greetings Takato. You did very well today." said the man.  
  
"Thank you, councilor." he replied  
  
"Call me Luke. I hate being called councilor. It makes me sound old. I hear Wedge is to be your flight instructor. You've got a great teacher. Congratulations!" said Luke  
  
'Just remember, our last hope lies with you and the other Chosen.' said a voice to Takato.  
  
Takato looked at Luke, but he in turn just smiled and winked before going away. Next up was Kenshin, who at his sides were the man in the white kimono and the girl that had sat beside him. Kenshin had a smile on his face as he looked at Takato.  
  
"Very good up there, Takato. I'm going to be your sword-fighting teacher. I never planned to teach my technique, the Hiten Mitsurugi, but I'm afraid I have no choice. Meet my friend, Sanosuke, or Sano, your martial arts instructor, and Kaoru, my girlfriend." he presented. The man just nodded while the girl bowed. In return, Takato bowed too.  
  
"You did well during the meeting, kid" said Sanosuke  
  
"Thanks" replied Takato  
  
The three then left, Kaoru and Sano in a talk-fight about manners. Next up was the man with the dark hair and the man with glasses.  
  
"Hey, name's Angel. This is my partner Wesley. Nice going kid." he said.  
  
"Thanks. Say, weren't you with a girl during the Council?" asked Takato  
  
"Yeah, but she's somewhere in this room, talking her head off." he replied.  
  
"Nice going up there, lad. You showed them quite good." said Wesley.  
  
"Thanks…I think." answered Takato  
  
The two men gave a nod and left to talk to Luke and, what Takato made out to be, Wedge. Next in line was the brown-haired kid and the brown-haired girl.  
  
"Let me guess, you're Kenchi, correct?" asked Takato  
  
The boy gave a smile  
  
"I see you were actually paying attention to the meeting. I sometime get bored and don't listen much." he said.  
  
"Until I get him back to reality" the girl beside him corrected.  
  
"True. Takato, meet my girlfriend Holly. We kinda met under strained circumstances." he introduced  
  
"I can imagine…don't ask." said Takato  
  
"So, Takato…do YOU have anyone in your life?" asked Kenchi.  
  
"Nope, no one." he replied  
  
"But how can that be so? You're handsome, to say the least. Girls should be chasing after you." exclaimed Holly, but no one but Kenchi and Takato heard.  
  
"You'd be surprised…" he mumbled.  
  
But, unfortunately, both Kenchi and Holly heard that.  
  
"Oh…so girls DO run after you?" asked Kenchi  
  
"Like you wouldn't imagine…and I'm talking literally…they RUN after me." he said  
  
Kenchi seemed impressed at this.  
  
"Man, what are you? A rock star or something?" he asked, half jokingly.  
  
"Yep…though I'm only the singer…" he said  
  
Kenchi's jaw dropped and looked at Holly, who gave Takato an impressed look.  
  
"Whoa…dude, no wonder the girls dig you." Kenchi said in amazement.  
  
"gee, ya think?" asked Takato sarcastically.  
  
"How many are in the band?" asked Kenchi.  
  
"let me see…five. Two of them are Jonathan and Hyryuu, then there is our drummer Zidane. Last of all is our pianist, Kang-Lin. The only female in the group. When we need a female voice, Lin-kun is fit for the job." he said.  
  
Kenchi nodded and Holly and he then left after a small farewell. Next where the four small creatures he had seen. They all bowed to him before straightening themselves.  
  
"Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam at your service!" they all said in unison.  
  
Takato had to fight back a small laugh.  
  
"Takato at yours!" he answered  
  
"I trust that uncle Bilbo didn't bore you?" asked Frodo  
  
"Not in the least, Frodo." he answered.  
  
"Glad to hear it!" exclaimed Pippin  
  
"If you would excuse us, we must go see something." said Merry  
  
"You are excused." said Takato.  
  
The four then bowed and left. Takato was then overwhelmed by his two brothers, who wanted to know everything. After explaining everything, the King and Queen stepped forward to him. Takato gave a bow, Jonathan and Hyryuu doing to the same after him and then straightened up. The King and Queen smiled at them.  
  
"I hope we did not bore you too much, Takato." said Elsin.  
  
"Not in the least, your majesty." replied Takato  
  
"I suppose these are your brothers?" asked the Queen  
  
"Indeed we are, your highness. Jonathan and Hyryuu at your service!" they both said.  
  
The queen gave a small laugh.  
  
"And Queen Kirenna at yours." she replied.  
  
"Well, Takato, it seems you have new duties now that you are our Defender of Hope." said Kirenna.  
  
"Quite right, your majesty." said Takato  
  
"We shall leave you then, you will be shown to your rooms. From now on, you will stay here until your training is complete. Your family is also to stay here, plus the two other girls, for I think your two brothers are quite fond of them." said Elsin with a wink.  
  
Takato had known about Jonathan and Christina, but Hikaru and Hyryuu? This was new, but it was also new teasing material for him. After the three had bowed once more, Elsin and Kirenna departed. Yet, just before leaving the room, he approached Aragorn and whispered something. Aragorn nodded and left the room, accompanied by Legolas and Boromir. Elsin then said something to Gimli, who also nodded and stayed at the door. The night was coming, and the kids had to go to bed, so Angelique showed them to their rooms. After about five minutes, they all went out like candle lights.  
------------------------------------------------  
In the halls of the Council Palace…  
------------------------------------------------  
Aragorn was striding tireless through the halls, Boromir and Legolas close behind. Then, he stopped at a red door and opened it. Legolas and Boromir kept quiet through the whole process, then entered the room. There was a brief flash of light, and then the door shut itself.  
  
---------------------------  
They landed in the streets of a small town. They were in, what we call, normal clothes. They quickly got up and went to the sidewalk. Boromir and Aragorn looked around in wonder, as they had never seen anything like this. Legolas, on the other hand, had already come to our world and so was not very impressed. They strode by a large building that had the sign 'Primary School' hung up on a wall. They strode by it and then found a park. There were lots of children there, all playing and laughing gaily, unaware of the other world who were in constant chaos and in danger of destruction. They walked across the park and came onto another street. This one had house upon house lined up along it's sides. Since they all looked alike, Aragorn got a little frustrated, as they were here to get a girl, but how would they know where she lived? Then, a man passed by, and Aragorn stopped him with his arm.  
  
"Excuse me, but would you know where lives the girl named Kang-Lin?" he asked.  
  
The man straightened himself and looked at Aragorn.  
  
"Yes, I know her, but what do you want from her?" he asked them suspiciously  
  
"Listen to me…that is none of your business…just tell us where she lives, NOW" ordered Boromir.  
  
The man back away a little before pointing to the north  
  
"She lives in house 53, the one with the red roof, you can't miss it!" he said nervously, before running away.  
  
Aragorn sighed, while Legolas stood there, shaking his head. Boromir looked at them with a inquisitive look  
  
"What?" he asked  
  
"Boromir, you should really learn some talking skills…" said Aragorn.  
  
"Hey, at least we have the place, right?" asked Boromir  
  
"Gotta agree on that." agreed Legolas  
  
"Never mind, let's just go and finish this business" said Aragorn.  
  
They resumed their walking, watching for a number 53 or a red roof. After about ten minutes, they finally found it. From inside one could hear screaming going on. One voice was young and fair, while the other old and mean. Aragorn looked at his companions and nodded, and soon, they were all in their old clothes. Aragorn led the way to the door and unsheathed his sword. Legolas got his bow out and adjusted an arrow on it and Boromir got out his sword. From the inside you could hear a clear distinct scream come out.  
  
"I wish you would just leave me alone and I could leave this horrible place! You've never approved of Takato-kun, but I don't care anymore, I love him, and I am not changing my mind! He is my knight and his knights will come and save me on his behalf!" the younger voice said.  
  
Aragorn and his friends looked at each other in dumb disbelief. What a stroke of luck for this young lady, her wish was coming true. Aragorn then stepped back and hurled himself against the door, making it fling open. He and Boromir dashed inside and Legolas followed, covering their backs. The young girl was up a stairway and the old woman was at the bottom. Both had stopped screaming and looked at what was happening. Aragorn then spoke up.  
  
"Young lady, I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. I was sent to retrieve you and to bring you back to Takato, the Defender of Hope." he proclaimed.  
  
"Man, I didn't think my wish would really come true. But anything is better than this hell-hole." said Kang-Lin in surprise.  
  
The old woman was about to protest when Boromir stopped her with his blade.  
  
"I would really reconsider any protest against Aragorn, old woman. You would have to be executed on the spot for protesting against a king." he said coolly. Then, a shriek came from behind. Another woman, younger than the old one, just as well Kang-Lin's mother, though they both seemed from very different nationalities, had appeared from the living room. Legolas quickly shut her up by pointing his bow at her.  
  
"Now then, lady, you shouldn't scream like that, unwanted attention is not rewarded, but punished." said Legolas.  
  
Kang-Lin had just come down the stairs when a voice from the outside shouted.  
  
"This is the police, Come out with your hands up!" said the voice.  
  
"For crying out loud! We don't have the time for this!" shouted Aragorn.  
  
"We agree wholeheartedly!" shouted Kang-Lin, Legolas, and Boromir.  
  
Boromir drew the old woman close.  
  
"Listen, lady, we don't have time for this, so tell them to back off, or die. Their choice." he ordered her.  
  
He then shoved the old woman to the door and flung it open. The old lady came outside slowly.  
  
"They are saying that they want to see you all dead first!" she shouted  
  
Boromir gave an exasperated sigh and threw a dart at the old lady, making her stumble and drop to the grass. She was not dead, but unconscious.  
  
"Okay, plan B. Call them" ordered Aragorn.  
  
Legolas nodded and took out a small communicator. After talking in some weird language, he put the communicator back in his pocket. Ten minutes later, the voice shouted once more.  
  
"We are told to leave you alone and let you leave, you may come out freely!" it shouted this time.  
  
Legolas peeked his head through the door and saw about ten elves with their bows ready to kill beside each policeman. After giving his friends an ok, they left the house, still guarding their backs. They then broke into a run and then, after Legolas said something in the other language, they disappeared. Soon after, the other elves said the same and they too disappeared. For weeks, the incident would be told about once and again, but afterwards it was dismissed as multiple hallucination.  
--------------------------------------------  
They were back in the room with the red door. Beside Aragorn was Kang-Lin, who was a bit startled by everything that had happened. Elves, Knights, and Magic. It was all too much for her. Aragorn then led them outside and into the halls. Aragorn then turned to the girl.  
  
"Listen, we are to take you to Takato's room, but he's quite asleep I'm afraid." he said.  
  
"What we're asking is if it's all right if you slept with my son in his room?" asked Legolas.  
  
Kang-Lin looked at Legolas in surprise. As far as she knew, Takato had only brother and sisters and a mom, but she never knew he had a dad.  
  
"He didn't know I was his father till he met me." he said, as if reading her mind.  
  
"Your answer?" asked Boromir.  
  
"Well…yes, I guess…but…isn't this kind of bad?" she asked.  
  
"No need to worry about that, Jonathan and Hyryuu are also sleeping with the girl of their dreams. Though they won't know until they wake up." laughed Boromir.  
  
"Well, then, let's go…just one thing…No funny stuff with my son during the night, okay? You two may be in love, but you are too young for anything." said Legolas.  
  
Again, Kang-Lin was surprised, as she never knew Takato returned the feelings she had for him. She always thought he didn't have an interest in her. Though he was kind and polite, he never showed any real display of emotion. He always seemed apart from everyone except his brothers and sisters and his friends from the band, including her. Now, he heart had skipped a beat, the boy of her dreams loved her back! She practically skipped as they led her to Takato's room. She expected it to be messy and all disorganized, but instead, it was neatly organized and clean. Above his bed was a real, bladed katana, present from Kenshin. On his bedside table was a book and a small necklace. It seemed to shine orange in the dark, it's light never dying.  
  
"The Pendant of Hope…it will never go out, no matter what. Hope will exist as long as the Crest and the Pendant exist." explained Legolas in a whisper. She nodded and found out that some of her stuff was already here. Legolas and his friends went outside the bedroom and left for their respective rooms. Legolas back to Angelique, Aragorn back to Arwen, and Boromir back to his studies. Boromir seemed to have no desire for love, as he kept reading and thinking throughout the night. He needed little sleep to feel refreshed. Back in Takato's room, Kang-Lin had just finished changing into her night-gown and was slowly getting into the bed. Then, Takato rolled over and she stopped. After making sure he wasn't about to wake, she got into the covers and got beside Takato, snuggling into him. She was about to go to sleep when she heard him whisper in his sleep.  
  
"Must…get back TK…damned if I die…without saving him…" he whispered, before a tear came out from his eyes. She looked at him with a kind and caring look. She then gently brushed off the tear and kissed him lightly on the lips. Then, she got herself comfortable and went to sleep. Boy would Takato be in for it. The next morning came and Takato slowly awoke from his deep, but pleasurable sleep. Though he felt that something was not quite right. He took his Pendant and put it on and then stretched. That's when he felt someone roll against him from his side. Takato stopped his stretch and slowly looked to his side. His eyes then widened as he saw Kang-Lin at his side, in only a nightgown! His face flushed red and he had to very hardly suppress a yell of surprise. He then decided that it was bets not to wake her up, so he got out of bed, into the bathroom, locked it, and took a shower. After he was done, he also changed in the bathroom into his red robes and went out. Kang-Lin was still asleep. He then was about to leave the room when she awoke. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Takato by the door. She got up, as if everything was quite normal and looked at him with a sleepy expression.  
  
"Good morning, Takato-kun." she said.  
  
"Good…Good morning, Lin-chan." he stammered.   
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked  
  
"Uh…let me see…robes, belt, books…Ah yes! My Katana! Thank you, love." he said, as he got his katana.  
  
She smiled at him. Though she wasn't really meaning the katana, she was glad he called her 'love'. Quite love-struck you could say. She had before thought that Takato was cute. But now, in his robes, with his katana and books, she thought he was absolutely gorgeous. As he got out, she went to the bathroom herself and took a shower. After finishing, she noticed a pair of robes laid on the bed, neatly folded. The robes were sky blue, with golden streaks along it's borders. She put them on and found them quite comfortable. She then went outside and in the halls she found Jonathan and Hyryuu, talking to each other with pale faces. She went towards them with a curious face.  
  
"I'm telling you, first, I go to sleep, and then, next thing I know, Christina-kun is right beside me in my bed!" exclaimed Jonathan.  
  
"Tell me about it…for me it was Hikaru." said Hyryuu.  
  
"Hey guys!" she exclaimed, startling both of them  
  
"Kang-Lin! What an awkward and yet splendid surprise!" greeted Jonathan  
  
"How's it going, Kang-Lin?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"Good! Marvelous! Splendid!" she said in a cheerful mood.  
  
"What? Did our brother finally confess his feelings for you?" asked Jonathan  
  
"Better! We actually got to sleep together!" she said  
  
"So we aren't alone…good and bad to know…" sighed Hyryuu  
--------------------------------  
In the sword-fighting training room, Kenshin and Takato were in the middle of a deadlock between the fully mastered Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and the un-mastered Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. It was a wonder to Kenshin how powerful this kid was. Kenshin broke the deadlock by back flipping and charging again. Takato saw it coming and side-stepped it, and then hit Kenshin in the back of the neck with the butt of the katana. Kenshin fell down and when he turned, Takato's katana was pointing straight at his heart. Kenshin smiled and gave a stifled laugh.  
  
"Very good. Even if you haven't mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu technique, you can still beat me! I'm impressed, kid." complimented Kenshin.  
  
"Thanks, Kenshin." replied Takato.  
  
"I guess we're done here for today. Next time, though, we'll have the whole lesson made up of fights, got it?" Kenshin asked.  
  
"Yes, sensei." replied Takato.  
  
Takato bowed to Kenshin, who returned it and then left with his gear. From the training with Kenshin he knew he would get cut all over his body, and boy, did he get it. He had a nasty, yet shallow gash on his forehead, and a cut that ran through his whole back. His left arm was nearly all stained with blood and he was still spitting some blood. Yet Kenshin was in no better shape. Takato had managed to catch him off-guard and cut him at his sides and make a gash across his chest. Kenshin was also bleeding a bit from his head wound that Takato had just done. Takato left the hall from which he had his training and went to his room. He had about two hours of rest before lunch and then Martial Arts class with Sanosuke. Just as he entered his room, he heard three gasps from inside. Hikaru, Christina, and Kang-Lin were all three inside, having tea around a small table.   
  
"Uh…hello girls…am I interrupting anything? I could leave you know…" stammered Takato.  
  
"Takato! What in the world happened to you? You're hurt!" shouted Kang-Lin  
  
"Oh, these…they're nothing…really…just training wounds. I'll be okay. Really." he assured them.  
  
But Kang-Lin would have none of it. She grabbed Takato and flung him onto the bed. She then turned to the two other girls and gave them a nod. The two girls rushed out and quickly came back with a med kit.  
  
"Girls, I'm fine, really! I'll heal fast!" he shouted, but the girls were not paying attention to his cries.  
  
Soon, every part of him that had been wounded had been cleaned and then bandaged. After seeing his blood, he then remembered he hadn't cleaned his katana yet. He unsheathed his blade once more and saw that it was indeed still stained with blood. He looked at the girls and saw that they were shocked.  
  
"What?" he asked  
  
"Is that blood?" asked Christina  
  
"Well, what else would it be? Kenshin and I had a little real live practice." he said  
  
"But, isn't that dangerous?" asked Kang-Lin  
  
"Dangerous? Lin-chan, running around with nine Dark Riders, one dark army, and a malevolent Prince after you is dangerous." he said incredulously "This was just practice! Kenshin would never kill me and I wouldn't kill him. Besides, I've already bled far worse than this." he finished with a shrug.   
  
Kang-Lin looked at him with renewed wonder. She had always admired Takato, from the first day of school, when she didn't know where to go, he was there to help her. He had always been kind and polite to her and the other students, and always like to laugh. Now, he tells her that he has fought and bled and ran from a terrifying amount of enemies. Takato was expecting her to start being worried, but instead, she hugged him, in the process, she accidentally hugged the back wound he had. Takato gave a little yelp in pain. Kang-Lin then retreated back in worry.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" she asked him  
  
"No, not at all…I'm fine." he said wincing a bit from the pain  
  
Kang-Lin nodded and then the two other girls said good-bye to Takato and Kang-Lin and left. After they had left, Takato got up and went to a nearby couch and slouched down. Kang-Lin came to his side and sat beside him.  
  
"Kang-Lin, what are you doing here?" he asked, with his eyes closed.  
  
"What do you mean? are you not happy that I'm here?" she asked, worried that was the case.  
  
Takato turned his head and smiled at her.  
  
"I'm always glad to have you near, Lin-chan. But this is not really the best place for you. You might get hurt, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you." he explained. He then turned his head back to it's former place. "I'm sorry if my question made you think I was not glad." he said.  
  
Then, a bell rang from outside.  
  
"Drats, I still have an hour before eating and then Martial Arts. I'm going to get creamed." he said.  
  
"Then you better get changed, you smell of blood. After you're done, I'll get changed myself." she said.  
  
"Yeah, no kidding…that "medical emergency" I just had made you sweat too much." he said with a playful tone.  
  
Before she could reply, he had got up and went to the bathroom. He always let one of his spare tunics in the bathroom for such cases as these. Through the door, Kang-Lin could hear the shower turning on.  
  
"Lin-chan? You better get changed into something nice. It's going to be one of those official lunches." he said through the door. Kang-Lin nodded and went to her wardrobe to find something nice. She looked and looked but found nothing. Then, on the floor of the wardrobe, she saw a package with a note on it. It read:  
  
'I trust this dress will be in your good taste,  
A friend'  
  
She looked inside the packet and behold! There lay a pair of golden robes with a small necklace on top of one. The necklace bore the crests of Hope inside of a circle that surrounded it. The dress was bordered with silver and on the neckpiece was a small green jewel. She got the robes out and hung them in her wardrobe, but put the necklace on. After Takato came out in his red robes, his black hair still dripping a bit, she got into the bathroom and took a shower herself. When she came out, Takato left the room to give her, her privacy. When she had changed into the golden robes, she went again into the bathroom to apply finishing touches. While she was, Takato had sneaked into the room and quietly changed into another set of robes. These were of a silvery color and he was told his brothers would be using them too. The robes were bordered with gold and he put on his Pendant necklace. He also attached his katana at his side and put on a pair of black boots. Then, quietly, he slipped out of the room, as if he had never come into it at all. Soon, Kang-Lin was ready and when she came out, she gasped in surprise at how Takato was dressed. He looked like a knight to her in those silver robes. The sword made it appear even more so. To Takato, he had to stifle a whistle at how beautiful Kang-Lin looked in those robes. She looked like a queen to him in those robes. Her dark hair was neatly brushed and any slight breeze made it flow like the wind. He then nervously put out his hand, which she nervously took and they were off. At the door, they stopped. They both watched the door nervously, as they were both not used to this sort of event. Then, right up to them came Jonathan and Christina. Takato expected Jonathan to be in his silver robes so he made no gasp. He was interested though, as to why he had made his long blond hair into a pony tail, though it did look good on him. Christina and Kang-Lin, though, did gasp. They were both wearing the exact same thing except that their necklaces had different crests on them. Soon after, Hikaru and Hyryuu made their way to the others. The same kind of reactions passed. After the boys gave each other a nod, they put out their hands to their respective girls, which they took. Then, leaded by Takato and Kang-Lin, they opened the door and went inside, flanked by Hyryuu and Jonathan. Inside, they could see that the lunch had already started. It was more like a buffet lunch, as tables were set up everywhere and a long table to a corner was filled with food. Soon after they had greeted the King and Queen, they got their food and sat down, each couple at a different table. From his table, Takato could see Kenshin and Kaoru at a nearby table. He also saw Sanosuke having trouble believing that he could eat all he wanted without having to pay. He also saw some people he didn't know. He saw a little boy about ten years old dressed in red robes and carrying a katana being accompanied by a small brown-haired girl in pink robes. He judged that the girl was about nine years old. He then saw Angel and his partner Wesley at another table, seemingly waiting for someone. Then, he saw his sisters. His jaw dropped as he saw them. Catherine was sitting at a table with a young swordsman Takato had seen somewhere before, but couldn't remember, and Kim was just arriving on the arm of one of the Council Guards. Jin was right behind her with a small boy her age with dark hair and dark green eyes. Catherine and Kim, ok. But JIN?!?!? For him, she was still far too young to have a boyfriend. Kang-Lin hadn't noticed his shock though and just kept eating her food. When both had finished, they began to talk, mostly about Takato and his adventures. After about two hours, Takato saw Sanosuke make a sign at him and leave the room. Takato nodded and excused himself to Kang-Lin, saying it was time for his next lesson. She nodded happily and took a sip of wine (she's fifteen, but has high tolerance). Takato left the room and then went down the hall. Soon, he came to a black door with a Japanese sigh on it that meant "Aku". Takato nodded to himself and went inside. Sanosuke was waiting for him near the other edge of the room.  
  
"Got boring, huh kid?" he asked.  
  
"Very, let's get this on!" replied Takato.  
  
"Right, here we go!" shouted Sanosuke, launching a shower of fists at Takato, who remained where he stood.  
  
Takato could sense where things would come from because of his Knight abilities. One after another, he dodged every punch and kick that was launched at him with a cocky grin. After he felt that Sanosuke left an open spot, Takato launched a kick to that spot, making Sanosuke stop and step back, and then launch again. After Sanosuke seemed beaten, he smiled evilly. He then launched a spin kick at Takato, who ducked, but then Sanosuke used his other leg to kick backwards, hitting Takato's unprotected back. Right after the impact of the first leg, the other leg came crashing down on Takato's back also. Takato fell because of the impact on his stomach. He then swirled and grabbed Sanosuke's foot and made him fall to the ground too. After about an hour of sparring, the match ended in a deadlock, though both fighters were bleeding from more than one place. Takato returned to his room feeling practically dead. Kang-Lin was waiting for him already in bed, reading a book. Takato came in and wanted to drop to the floor and go unconscious, but decided against it. He went to the bathroom and got himself cleaned and got into the Council sleeping clothes and went to bed. As he got into the covers, he took off his Pendant and put it on his night table. Kang-Lin looked at him with somewhat worry.  
  
"Rough lesson?" she asked  
  
"Very rough. Man, Sano can really pack a punch." he answered, rubbing his jaw.  
  
"If you're not careful, you won't survive the training, Takato-kun!" she said.  
  
"I know, Lin-chan, but don't worry, I'll be careful. Right now, I feel like a deadbeat so I better get some sleep…"he said drowsily.  
  
"Yes, you should. Goodnight Takato-kun." she said, turning off her light.  
  
"Goodnight Lin-chan" he said in reply, before going out himself.  
  
And so it was, that for nearly a month, Takato Taikashi, the Defender of Hope, trained for his ultimate task. At the ends of April, Takato had finished every course he had been trained in. He had successfully mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu technique WITHOUT killing Kenshin in his last test, which was a wonder to him, and also finished his martial arts test by beating Sanosuke almost into a bloody pulp. He had mastered the art of flying at high speed with Wedge very fast, as he seemed to love flying. That last day, the Council met again, to decide which of the Bearers would accompany him on his different quest. It could only be one person, as the others had much else to do. At last, the Council chose. Since the other bearers had a respective other already in the group, they chose Kang-Lin, for she would raise Takato's spirits when low, encourage him when needed, and restore faith in himself when he felt down. She would be his support when injured and his healer when sick. Takato had brought up a fierce debate, saying that there was no possible way he would let Kang-Lin come with him because she had no powers to protect herself and he couldn't possibly look out for himself and her at the same time.  
  
"Perhaps you are afraid to lose her, no?" asked Angel, from his seat.  
  
"You're damn right I am! She's one of the only things that matter in my life, and I ain't taking the chance of losing her!" he shouted in reply.  
  
"You make a good point Takato, but we still say she is he one." said Elsin gently, from his seat.  
  
"Point or not, HOW THE HELL AM I TO PROTECT HER AND MYSELF WHEN THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FIGHT THESE PEOPLE IS ME????" he screamed at the Council. He was really getting fed up with these people. They would not see the logic in his argument.  
  
"Takato, we unders-" started Bilbo, before Sanosuke stood up from his seat and shouted back to Takato.  
  
"Takato, listen to me. HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO MY LESSONS?????" he shouted at Takato "IF YOU DID, YOU WOULD KNOW BY NOW THAT EVEN IF WHE CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE, SHE WOULD STILL GO! SHE LOVES YOU, YOU BAKA! SHE WOULD FACE OFF THE EMPEROR AND PRINCE, AND ANY OTHER BASTARD THAT LIVES, FOR WHO? FOR YOU! SHE CAN TAKE CARE OF HERSELF, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" he finished. The whole Council looked at both Sanosuke and Takato with awaiting eyes.  
  
Though he wouldn't easily admit it, there was some logic to what Sanosuke said. She would follow him to the ends of the earth and face off the devil himself for him. Takato stood there thinking for about fifteen minutes when he finally nodded in surrender. The Council stared at Sanosuke with wonder. He had managed to get Takato to agree to something as dangerous as this.  
  
The next day, Takato and Kang-Lin were in Elven clothes and ready to go. Takato had his katana hanging at his side and Kang-Lin was carrying a bow. After saying goodbye to everyone, they walked through the red doors and then, with a flash, they disappeared. The journey to bring back the Prince had begun. Soon after, the other Bearers also left with Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, and Gandalf as their guardians once more. 


	4. The Prince's Downfall

Knights of the Crests World Wide  
  
Switzerland  
  
A/N: This chapter will be a little more dramatic than the others and the Prince finally is cornered in the end. Plus, Kang-Lin finally has Takato confess his feeling for her. So, a bit of romance, A WHOLE LOT of action and adventure, a little drama, and that's it. Christina-chan, Hikaru-chan, this one is dedicated to you two.  
  
----------------------------------------------------*----------------------- ---------------------------  
  
The Prince's Downfall  
  
Two days…two days of arriving in the Digiworld and already trouble was after them. Takato and Kang-Lin were hiding behind some thickets in a forest, not far from Mount Infinity. Takato watched the patrol go by in a hurry and then gave Kang-Lin the signal to move. As if there wasn't enough trouble already, the patrol seemed to feel them and turned back and headed to where they were. Takato silently cursed to himself and slowly unsheathed his katana. If he couldn't stop them without his powers, then the Prince would surely detect him. Takato had no urge to meet the Dark Bearers any more, so he avoided using his Pendant. Kang-Lin was about to make it to another safe location when a Ninjamon appeared and blocked her way. Kang- Lin gave a small cry before Takato slashed the Ninjamon through it's chest. The digimon then vanished into data, but the cry Kang-Lin had told off their location. Ninjamon after Ninjamon they came. They were surrounded by them, yet they couldn't give up. Takato gave a desperate look for anything to help him. Finding nothing, he feared he had to use his Pendant. He couldn't use the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu because Kang-Lin was too close and she would get hurt, if not worse. He sighed in exasperation and took out his pendant, which began to glow. Takato lowered his eyes, and after about five minutes, his head shot back up, and his eyes were flaring.  
  
"Pendant of Power that was given to me, AWAKEN!" he shouted  
  
His Pendant then started to shoot off an orange light which engulfed him.  
  
"Fire of Hope!" he cried from inside the light.  
  
Piece by piece, his armor became whole. His hawk-like helmet had just finished comforting itself on his head when the Ninjamon started attacking him. Takato gave a smirk before drawing his sword out at an inhuman speed and slashing the air all around him. In less than thirty seconds, his sword was back in it's sheath, and the Ninjamon started vanishing into data. He then returned himself to his normal self and gave Kang-Lin a signal to come towards him. She complied and soon they were on their way once more. They had come dangerously close to Infinity Mountain, where stronger and more frequent patrols roamed it's surroundings. Takato and Kang-Lin had landed in an open plain not far from the forest, and that's where the Ninjamon had found them for the first time, but they had lost them in the forest. After making sure that no one was close, Takato gave her a smile and put down his gear.  
  
"We'll camp here…there doesn't seem to be anyone nearby." he told her.  
  
Again, Kang-Lin was shocked with wonder. One minute Takato was smirking evilly at his enemies and killed them all, and the next, he's the Takato she always remembered. He would always remain a mystery to her. She nodded and put down her own gear. Takato smiled again and went to get some firewood. Meanwhile, Kang-Lin was preparing their sleeping bags and deciding what to cook, for she well knew Takato couldn't cook at all. As she finally decided what to eat, Takato came back with some firewood. As she took out some food, Takato started building a fire. Soon, Takato and Kang-Lin were sitting next to each other enjoying a great meal of sausages and rice.  
  
"Lin-chan, this is great! I've never tasted something so good, except my mom's food, of course." he complimented  
  
Kang-Lin only blushed. Takato went back to his meal and after that went to his sleeping bag. Kang-Lin finished her meal quickly and went to her own. Before going to bed, though, Takato looked at Kang-Lin thoughtfully.  
  
"Lin-chan? I want to ask you something…" he said  
  
"Yes? What is it?" she replied  
  
"Well, you seem to have been blushing for a while now. Care to explain?" he asked  
  
Kang-Lin's blush only grew further.  
  
"Well…I…I was only thinking of something." she said hurriedly.  
  
Takato smiled at her and nodded. He then got into his sleeping bag and went to sleep, though half of his brain was still active, always on the lookout. The night passed slowly, and at around midnight, Kang-Lin awoke from a nice dream. She got up and decided to get some water. Just as she was, though, she heard a ruffle in the bushes. She looked around her but saw no movement and got scared. She went to Takato and awoke him with a shake.  
  
"Wha? What is it, Lin-chan?" asked Takato.  
  
"Takato, I heard something moving in the bushes." she said, worriedly.  
  
Takato was about to dismiss it as her imagination before he heard it as well. He got up and took out his katana in a hurry.  
  
"Lin-chan, get behind me, do not get in the way of any fight, do you hear me?" he asked  
  
"I do, Takato-kun." she replied.  
  
Then, they heard another ruffle, as if something was coming near them at great speed. After that, they heard another one come from another direction. There was no mistake, two something were coming towards them from opposite directions. Then, Takato saw from both directions the gleam of a katana blade, though, oddly, on one side there was the gleam of two katana blades. Then, as suddenly as things can be, two shouts came and two different men jumped out of the bushes straight at each other.  
  
"Gototsu!" cried one of them, who was wearing a blue uniform.  
  
"Kodachi Nitou Ryu!" cried the other, who was wearing a white cloak.  
  
'Great, Aoshi and Saitoh…Kenshin told me about these two and their techniques.' Takato thought  
  
Since he saw they were both coming towards him, Takato realized that only one of his techniques could be useful in this instance.  
  
"Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu-Amakakeru-Ryu-no-Hirameki!" he shouted  
  
As if both men expected that, they jumped back, but the vacuum that was created by the technique drew them steadily closer to Takato. When they were both near enough, Takato drew himself straight and jumped over them.  
  
"Ryu-Tsu-Sen!" he cried, before coming down on both and cutting their shoulders.  
  
Both men cried in pain as Takato's blade cut into their shoulders, making them drop their katana. Both men staggered in pain as they looked at Takato in surprise.  
  
"That was the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu Tsu Sen! Only Kenshin and Hiko know of it!" said the man in the blue uniform.  
  
"And before that, was the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki…I know of it only too well." said the other man.  
  
"Quiet, Saitoh, Aoshi. Yes, I know who you are, Kenshin told me all about you two. What's the big idea of trying to kill us?" demanded Takato, still holding his blade up. Kang-Lin was behind him, looking at both men in fear.  
  
"Whoa kid, calm down. We were only testing you. You think you're really going to pull off this whole affair by your own and that girl? Wrong. That mountain is infested with traps, lairs, barracks, among other things." said Saitoh  
  
"Then there's the Palace. There is no way you two are going in there alone. It has about ten digimon and a Dark Rider behind every pillar. So, after hearing about your mission from a very talkative Yahiko, we decided to test your skills. Congratulations, you passed." said Aoshi, wincing a bit from the pain.  
  
Kang-Lin came out from behind Takato and went to Aoshi. She took out the med kit and hurried to clean Aoshi's wound. Takato put back his blade and helped her with Saitoh. After that, Kang-Lin served both men with some leftover food. They gratefully took it.  
  
"Better than what we used to eat." had said Saitoh.  
  
"Say, where's Misao? Isn't she supposed to ALWAYS be close to you, Aoshi?" asked Takato  
  
"She is, but I told her to stay back at the Council's Palace. Knowing her, she isn't. I think we could say the same for Kenshin and Sanosuke." said Aoshi, before eating a bit of rice.  
  
Just as he said that, their heard something move among the bushes not far away.  
  
"Yep, that confirms my theory." said Aoshi  
  
"I think I know how to make them come out, though." said Takato, with an evil grin.  
  
"Whenever I see a grin like that, it's never a good thing." said Saitoh.  
  
Takato just kept grinning and then whispered something in their ear. They both nodded and then went to sleep. Takato and Kang-Lin also went to bed, but forgot to put away the leftover food and turn off the fire. After about thirty minutes, four figures came out of the bushes and into the small clearing. They closed in slowly to the pot of food when three blades were heard unsheathing. The four figures gulped and slowly turned their heads towards the sound and saw three katanas, ready to kill. One was placed in the Gototsu style and the other two were in the Kaiten Kempo style. Then, from the opposite side of the three blades appeared another. This one was held in the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style. The four figures were about to break for a run when Kang-Lin turned on a small, but powerful flashlight. The light revealed the faces of Kenshin, Sanosuke, Misao, and unbelievably, Yahiko.  
  
"Well, we got Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Misao right, but Yahiko is a real surprise." said Saitoh.  
  
"Welcome to our little camp." greeted Takato.  
  
"Gee, thanks. Can you sheathe those katanas? They are really getting me edgy." said Sanosuke.  
  
Thirty minutes later, Aoshi and Saitoh were up and listening to Kenshin and the other's story while Takato and Kang-Lin slept. The next morning came with no further trouble. Everyone had gone to sleep and Takato was the first to rise. He got up and decided to start cooking breakfast, though he quickly gave up. He then decided to just wait for the others to wake up when he heard Kang-Lin whisper in her sleep. Though the snoring of Sanosuke and Yahiko could of woken up a stone dragon, he could still very clearly hear her words.  
  
"Takato-kun…please…hold me tight…Takato-Kun…I love you…"she whispered.  
  
Takato felt a blush grow incredibly on his face. She loved him. He loved her too, but was too shy to say it. At first, he was being nice to her when she was the new girl, but then he had a growing fondness for her. Soon, after about one year, he had decided he was not fond of her, but in love with her. During every concert they had and she was the singer, he grew farther in love with her. Besides being too shy to say anything, he was also scared of being rejected for being who he was and what he did. He didn't think she would like being the girlfriend of a boy who had killed in cold blood more than once. The first time it was a digimon who had betrayed the kids and lured them to a trap. After escaping from it, Takato had hunted him down and then, when he found him, Takato injured him badly and then took his life by stabbing it through the heart. It didn't have a chance of defense before it had died at his hands. The last time he had killed in cold blood was when a man who was sworn to secrecy by the kids betrayed them and told the location of their base to their former enemies, Fearmon, Shadowmon, and Ragemon. In the attack, they had lost Angelique for the first time in their lives. Takato had gone into such a depression and rage that he, accompanied by Jonathan and Hyryuu, had hunted the man down into an alley, and with their sword had slashed the man more than once, until all that was left was a bloody mess. The man was about to scream when Takato's blade had pierced him through the chest. Jonathan and Hyryuu had followed suit, slashing at various parts of the man. Takato dismissed the memory and sat down on a flat rock that was beside the fire. After about an hour, the others woke up. All seven of his companions woke up at the same time. As they did, Takato looked towards the mountain that lay in front of them and saw that it didn't seem too far away, only about two day's walk. After Kang-Lin had made breakfast and they had all eaten, they packed up the gear and started walking with Takato in the lead.  
  
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On top of Infinity Mountain, in the Prince's Palace  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The Prince sat on his dark throne, awaiting news of disturbances as usual. Suddenly, One of his Riders came into the room.  
  
"What is it?" asked the Prince  
  
"Sire, we seem to have a problem. The second patrol hasn't reported in since yesterday and the fifth are not answering our calls." explained the Rider.  
  
"WHAT? Two patrols lost in TWO days? Find out what is going on in this island or you will regret it dearly!" shouted the Prince at the Rider.  
  
The Rider bowed low before leaving the room in a hurry. After he had left, the Prince stood up and paced his throne room.  
  
'Takato, it can only be him…He's coming here…how annoying…wait, no it's perfect!' thought the Prince as he paced the room even faster. 'If I can lure him deep enough into my Palace, there is no way he could win!'  
  
Then, the Prince let out an evil and high laugh.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Outside the Throne Room  
  
----------------------------------  
  
The Rider that had just left the Throne Room quickly went to a room further down a hall. As he entered it, several Riders appeared out of the shadows.  
  
"Well?" asked one of them  
  
"He's not happy. We have to find out what in the world is going on in this island or be punished!" exclaimed the Rider  
  
"Just as I thought. Well, these digimon seem to be worthless against the humans, so we should probably go ourselves and take care of the problem." said the leader of the Riders. "All right then, get ready everyone! We leave in five!" said the leader.  
  
All nine of the Riders assented and left the room.  
  
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At the foot of Mount Infinity  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Takato got out his blade in a flash, followed by Kenshin, Saitoh, Aoshi, and Yahiko. Sanosuke took a ready stance and Misao readied four knives in her hands. Kang-Lin, knowing SOME martial arts, stood by Sanosuke, also in a ready stance. The digimon had come from all sides, not looking very friendly. Some even had a hungry look on their face. Takato looked at his companions  
  
"Five?" he asked  
  
"Sure!" they replied.  
  
Takato mentally counted in his mind. As soon as he reached five, he dashed at the closest digimon.  
  
"FIVE!" he shouted  
  
All of his companions launched themselves on the digimon.  
  
"Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu, Ryu-Tsu-Sen!" Shouted both Takato and Kenshin, disintegrating two digimon.  
  
Yahiko and Kang-Lin were also hitting the digimon pretty hard, slashing and punching. Sanosuke seemed almost bored when about ten Ogremon attacked him. He dodged the club attack from the first one with ease and punched him hard in the gut. The lead Ogremon bent in pain and Sanosuke brought his leg down on the leader's back, making it tumble down unconscious. After that, the Ogremon seemed very unhappy with Sanosuke and dashed at him. Sanosuke dodged every attack and hit them all to the ground. Saitoh and Aoshi were probably the ones with the most kill counts, piercing through the chest of every digimon. Misao was bent mostly on dodging their attacks and throwing her knives when indicated, which proved to be a very useful tactic for her, and most fatal for the digimon. Takato and Kenshin were doing pretty well at that time, but soon were becoming slowly overpowered by the incoming digimon. They looked at each other, after they had seen two trees standing by each other and nodded. They each ran to a separate tree and the digimon followed. Takato and Kenshin ran up the tree for a few steps and then jumped over the digimon with a back flip and slashed at them. The digimon that had followed them closely now disappeared, dead. Soon, the eight companions had finished off the task force that had attacked them. They got their gear and continued walking, but not for long. As soon as they had touched the first rock of Infinity Mountain, they heard a high piercing scream.  
  
"That surely wasn't human, I can tell you that." commented Sanosuke.  
  
"My thoughts exactly" agreed Takato.  
  
They continued going up the mountain until about halfway up, they heard another similar scream, but much closer.  
  
"I have a very bad feeling about this…" warned Kenshin.  
  
Just as he said that, four of the nine Riders jumped down behind them and four in front of them. Above them, on a cliff that looked over them, was the leader of the nine Riders.  
  
"How, oh HOW, did I know that something bad was going to happen?" asked Sanosuke. "Kenshin, next time, be quiet." he requested  
  
"SILENCE!" roared the leader of the Riders  
  
"Why should we?" demanded Yahiko  
  
"Because I'm talking, you little brat!" replied the leader.  
  
Yahiko's eyes seemed to flare up when the leader called him a brat.  
  
"Let me at him! Come on! Let me at him!" he shouted, as Kenshin and Sanosuke held him back.  
  
"So, you want to fight? Fine, I shall grant your wish!" he said, snapping his fingers.  
  
At once, the eight Riders rushed towards the eight companions. As the Riders approached the companions, all those who had swords in the group took them out in a split second. Takato looked at his companions and smiled.  
  
"This is it. We finish them, and we can reach the summit." he told them  
  
"Right. Let's get these bozos." said Saitoh.  
  
On the other hand, Sanosuke, Misao, and Kang-Lin were closely grouped, in ready stances, for they knew that alone, they stood no chance, against the sword wielding Riders. One by one, the Riders took out their swords. Takato and his friends got into their stances and got ready to fight. As soon as the Riders were in range, Takato, Saitoh, Aoshi, Yahiko, and Kenshin attacked them. Takato put his sword into his sheathe and then got separated from his rival Rider. As the Rider charged Takato, he put his left foot in front and took out his sword in a second.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu technique! Amakakeru-Ryu-no-Hirameki!" shouted Takato, slashing his opponent across the chest, killing him.  
  
Yahiko was having more of a challenge with his opponent. Yahiko and his opponent constantly blocked each other's attacks and then counter-attacked the other. After a while, Yahiko found an opening at his opponent's side and drove his blade into it, making the Rider howl in pain and tumble to the floor, unconscious, and soon, dead. Kenshin had a more difficult time against his opponent. His opponent seemed to know his every move until Kenshin saw how. On his left ear, the Rider was wearing some sort of device. Kenshin decided to take that out first. Kenshin ran away from his opponent to the side of the cliff and back-flipped behind his opponent, but in midair, he got his blade into position and came down onto his opponent.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Tsu-Sen!" he shouted, making his blade cut off his opponent's ear and destroying the device.  
  
The Rider screamed in pain but did not fall down. Instead, it looked at Kenshin and dashed at him, in blind fury. The Rider's eyes had now gone completely white as he charged Kenshin. Kenshin side stepped the attack and the Rider fell off the cliff where they were battling, and landed on a rock. A sharp rock. Kenshin looked over the cliff and saw the Rider, impaled through his chest by the long, sharp rock. Kenshin felt sick at that site, and so quickly looked away. The rock would be from that day on called Rider's Death. Where Sanosuke, Kang-Lin, and Misao were, things were not looking too good. The three Riders that were attacking them were constantly trying to cut their heads off, making the three ducking constantly. Misao then got fed up and threw one of her knives at one of the Rider's chest, but missed and hit the forehead, killing the Rider. The other two Riders seemed surprised at this and lowered their guard for a moment, enough for Kang-Lin and Sanosuke to throw enough punches to knock them out. Saitoh was the one that seemed to have the hardest opponent. His opponent also had a katana and was constantly countering all of Saitoh's moves. Saitoh then got fed up, and seeing an opening at his opponent's knee, slashed at it at full force, driving the blade through the knee. His opponent screamed in pain and in his wrath, managed to slash Saitoh across the chest, making a not-so-deep gash. Saitoh then looked at his opponent and in his rage, used his katana to cut his opponent's head clean off. Aoshi was the one that was fairing best than all of them. Ruthless as he was in his battles, he had at once shot himself at his opponent and delivered such a barrage of blows, that his opponent had no chance of defense and got literally sliced to pieces. As soon as they were done, Takato and his comrades looked up to the leader of the Riders and scowled at him. The leader seemed mildly impressed at their fighting skills, but quickly dismissed it. He then looked at them with a mock smile and took out his own blade. Takato and his friends quickly took a fighting stance and looked at the leader constantly.  
  
"Very well…you have defeated my Riders. They weren't the best, that's for sure. The Emperor's Black Bearers are far more powerful than we Riders. You might even have the privilege to meet them. If you beat me, that is. Oh, I'm sorry, that's not going to happen…I'll kill you all by myself!" he said, before letting out an evil laugh.  
  
The leader of the Riders jumped down and immediately dashed at the companions. He drove through their ranks quickly, and came out behind them. One by one, each companion, except Kang-Lin, felt a sudden burst of pain, as several wounds sprouted throughout their bodies. All of them then fell to the ground, hurt everywhere, except for Kang-Lin, whom the Rider approached.  
  
"You must be wondering why I haven't hurt you." he said to her.  
  
"Yes, I am." she said, defiantly.  
  
"Well, my dear, I intend to take every bit of pleasure that I can from you…" said the leader with an evil smile.  
  
"What…What do you mean?" she asked nervously.  
  
"This." he simply said, before taking out a knife and cutting her robe. She tried to fight him, but he quickly pinned her hands behind her and drove her into the cliff's wall. She started screaming in terror but no one heard her, as they had all fallen unconscious. At last, the Rider was about to completely destroy her robe and then violate her, when she shouted for help again.  
  
"Help! Anyone! Help! Takato-kun!" she shouted at last.  
  
In his unconsciousness, Takato had been dreaming about that very scene and felt such a wash of rage, that he felt powered up again, yet he couldn't move. Kang-Lin's scream of his name had broken the line. His wrath knew no boundaries at that moment. He knew what was going on. He knew what would happen to Kang-Lin if he didn't do anything. This gave him new strength and he slowly started to move. Around him there appeared to be a fiery aura of rage. Takato slowly stood up, with his eyes closed. He then turned his head towards the Rider and Kang-Lin. The Rider stopped his ripping of her clothing and looked at Takato in wonder. His attack should have had kept him down for at least an hour, but there he was, up and angry. Takato then suddenly shot his eyes open, took out his katana, and dashed at the Rider. The Rider never knew what hit him. Takato came with such speed and anger that he managed to slash every part of the Rider's body in less than thirty seconds. The Rider then fell limp onto the ground, but was still alive. Just as he was about to say something, Takato took his blade and brought it down into the Rider's heart, killing him at last. Takato then looked at Kang-Lin, who was able to keep herself covered, even though most of her robe was completely destroyed. He approached her and, to her surprise and delight, kissed her on the lips gently. She returned the kiss happily, before they broke it up, and he smiled at her, before tumbling down to the ground, once again, unconscious. She looked at him in surprise, and went to his side. She saw nothing wrong except for the injuries that the Rider had given him, which had stopped bleeding. She opened his topmost robe and to her horror, saw a deep gash running up and down his right side. It was constantly bleeding, which would explain the faint. He was losing too much blood. At about this moment, the other started moving again and getting up. After seeing the dead leader, they looked around and saw Kang-Lin kneeling at Takato's side, with a look of horror on her face. Then, fearing the worst, they all broke into a run to where the two were. When they reached there, they saw the horrible wound that Takato had at his side. Misao ran to their gear and got the med kit and brought it back. Kenshin and Sanosuke quickly tried to stop the bleeding. Aoshi just looked on and then turned his head to the peak of the mountain, where the Palace lay. His face was then contorted with rage, but then remembered the state in which Takato was. During his fights alongside the boy, Aoshi had grown fond of Takato, admiring his kindness and politeness. He also admired how much passion he put in all his attacks, much like Kenshin. He still loved Misao dearly, but he considered Takato a friend now, a true friend. Saitoh was leaning over the leader of the Rider's body and examining it. Yahiko was trying to calm Kang-Lin down before she went into a shock. Saitoh then finished examining the body and came back to the others with a small metallic blade. It was small enough to be hidden anywhere without notice.  
  
"What's this?" asked Yahiko, with a curious look.  
  
"This, is what hurt Takato so badly." explained Saitoh.  
  
"That little thing?" asked Sanosuke, after they had successfully stopped the bleeding.  
  
"Yes. It doesn't seem much, but if you look closer, you'll see that all along the blade are smaller pointy objects forged into the blade. Those things caused most of the damage." he explained  
  
"But that nasty Rider didn't have a chance to use it on Takato-kun! In less than thirty seconds, Takato-kun had driven his blade almost everywhere on the Rider's body!" exclaimed Kang-Lin  
  
"Yes, that is true. Yet, I also found this." he said, as he took out another small device. "It seems to have a spring in it and a button to release the spring." he told them.  
  
"I think I know what that does." said Kenshin  
  
"Yes, I think you guessed it right, Kenshin. This blade is put into this device and then the spring retracts. The blade locks itself into the device, but when he button is pressed, the blade is shot forward. In this case, Takato's blade must of pressed the button and the blade shot itself out of the device but was stopped by the Rider's clothes. Yet, even if it was stopped, the blade had enough spring power to rip through the clothes, though only a small part of it succeeded that. This small part was able to then cut Takato during one of his slashes. Most probably it was a upward slash move that caused this gash." explained Saitoh.  
  
The rest of the group nodded and then finished treating Takato's wounds. After they finished doing that, they built a small fire beside the cliff, so that the smoke would give them away but would still leave, and slept there. The fight had driven out any hunger they had. For a couple of days they were there, waiting for any sign of betterment on Takato's part. Finally, on the third day, Takato started to awake. Kang-Lin was on watch, as it was already night. Takato tried to get up, but found it extremely painful. He lied back down and took in some breath and tried once more. This time, he was able to sit up, but after experimenting extreme pain. He noticed that everyone was asleep and that Kang-Lin was on watch, with her back turned to him. Though she had tried to maintain herself up, she had slowly fallen asleep. He noticed this, and not wanting to wake her up, slowly pulled himself to her side. He then saw that the position in which she was asleep was most discomfort able, so he gently pulled her to his side. Through none of this she woke up. After lying her on the mat on which he had laid, he pulled himself to a nearby rock and tried to pull himself up. Though it hurt horribly, he managed to get up. After making a few soft exercises, he felt his legs again and after noticing his gash, quickly went to his back-pack. Out of it he got some ointment that Angelique and Legolas had given him before he had left. It was supposed to have some Elven magic in it, so he decided that it was worth a try. He slowly took off his bandages and then applied some ointment on his wounds. They slowly, but surely started to heal. It was as if the wounds had decided to close at that precise instance. After about an hour, all of his wounds had left his body. He got up and got out another robe, a red one, and dressed himself and got out his katana, which he decided to call Savior from that moment on. He had decided that name upon the moment that he realized that this blade had saved his life more than once by being used, and it had saved other people's lives, like Kang-Lin's. He quietly climbed up the cliff where the leader of the Riders had stood during their battle and there, watched as the sun rose. Under the cliff, Takato's companions slowly started to rise. Saitoh was the first one to fully rise, and he was the first to notice that Takato was gone, and in his place was Kang-Lin. He woke up everyone and told them about Takato's disappearance. Everyone started to panic, and no one more than Kang-Lin. They searched everywhere until finally, a whistle came from above the cliff. They all rose their heads to the sound, expecting to see enemies, but saw instead Takato, fully clothed, back-pack slung over, and katana at his side, ready to go. At their looks of wonder, Takato only smiled before setting off towards the peak of the mountain. The others quickly packed everything and then ran up the side of the cliff and then finally reached Takato, as he was still walking up the mountain. When they finally reached the peak, they found the Palace, all black in structure. Yet, as they were about to enter, they found that something was blocking their entrance. For some reason, they could not get into the building, though ahead of them only stood air. They tried to feel for something, but found nothing. Then, when they tried moving towards the entrance of the Palace, they could not advance. It was as if something glued their feet to the ground. Takato was looking about to go desperate when a hologram of Bilbo appeared right beside them, from nowhere in particular.  
  
"Ah hello. I see you have finally made it here. I'm afraid you won't be able to pass into the Palace. You see, it is protected by a wall of shadows. It cannot be broken by any weapon and if you try, you will only cut the air. You cannot pass it, for the shadows will stop you from moving." it said  
  
"It just said everything we just found out…" said Sanosuke.  
  
"But…there is a way to open it temporarily. You must go to the real world and find those chosen who will afterwards come to the Council World. We do not know their names but we are sure you will find out who they are." it further said.  
  
All eight of the companions felt a surge of exasperation come up, but quickly dismissed it.  
  
"Ok…but how do we get there?" asked Takato, with a trace of impatience in his voice.  
  
"To get there, simply activate the portal next to the hologram box. It will shine temporarily to help you find it." the hologram said, before disappearing.  
  
They looked right beside where the hologram was and found nothing. Then, among the rocks, Kang-Lin saw a glint of light. She pointed it out to the rest, and they started digging. They soon found a small cylindrical object and gave it to Takato.  
  
"Hum…it seems to be some sort of trans-dimensional device, if what Jonathan and Hyryuu taught me was right…" he said at first. "If what they said was right…then this little button here should activate it…" he then said, pushing a button on the top of the device.  
  
The button started glowing blue and then a pillar of blue light appeared from it and went right into the sky.  
  
"I guess we should go in that pillar?" asked Misao  
  
"You guessed it right…let's go." said Takato, before going into the pillar. He suddenly felt all weariness flow out of him and felt himself floating. Kang-Lin followed him, and then Kenshin. The rest came one by one and after they had all gotten in, they all felt themselves being shot upwards into the sky. As they began rising at an incredible speed, the pillar began disappearing below them. After they passed the clouds, they all felt very tired and soon, a blackness befell them.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
In the real world…  
  
----------------------------------  
  
He had just gotten out of work. All he had wanted was a quiet afternoon with his kids and his wife. Then, as if fate was absolutely against that, he saw eight small comets fall towards the park. He sighed and decided that today was not his day.  
  
--------------------------  
  
In the park…  
  
---------------------------  
  
Aoshi suddenly felt very refreshed and got up. Around him he saw several kids and adults looking at him. He quickly got out his katanas in sudden fright and got himself into a ready position. Behind him, Takato was just waking up when he was Aoshi in his stance. He looked around to see if there were any enemies around, but saw only kids and adults, both very curious as to what was happening around here. Takato got up and went to Aoshi's side. He whispered something into Aoshi's ear and that made him lower his katanas and sheathe them. He then helped Takato wake up the rest and then getting them up. After they did, they looked around and saw that there were still a lot of kids and adults watching on. Aoshi and Saitoh put on angry faces at everyone, making the crowd step back. As if sensing trouble, four men in blue uniform came running up to see what was going on. Upon seeing the sheathes, they got out their guns and pointed them at the group.  
  
"Throw down your weapons!" shouted one of them  
  
Aoshi and Saitoh looked at each other in amusement. This man was threatening with a gun at two of the fastest swordsmen in Japan. They both didn't move and the man repeated his order. The crowd of people had risen at this site. As if knowing what the two were going to do, Takato smiled at them.  
  
"Don't hurt them, they're just doing their job." he asked them.  
  
Both men nodded before taking out their katanas in a split second and after about a second and a half, all four pointing guns were cut in two. Saitoh and Aoshi then put their blades back into their sheathes and with Takato and the others, left the scene. All four officers were still looking at the eight companions in amazement. Those two men had cut all four guns in two in less than five seconds. The crowd who was gathered there were also amazed by the speed of that act and didn't notice that the eight companions had left the park. The eight of them had finally gotten to the park exit and were about to leave the surroundings, when they saw in an alleyway a girl being tormented by three mugs. Saitoh, who was a policeman, could not stand the site, even if all he had was his sword and they had guns and knives. The men paid no attention to Saitoh as he slowly approached them, their full attention was on the girl. In fact, she looked to be about eighteen years old, had dark hair, a fair body, and was pretty slim. Saitoh had finally reached the men when one of them reached out a groping hand towards the terrified girl. Saitoh took out his sword quickly and brought the blade down on the man's hand, cutting it off. The man screamed in pain and spun around, furious. His two companions also spun around to see who dared to do that to them. This is when Saitoh noticed that all three men had blue uniform on, just like the men in the park. Saitoh was dumbstruck, policemen doing this? Aoshi, though was not surprised, he had seen the blue uniforms when they saw the three mugs and the girl. He took out his two swords and brought them down on the two companions of the man that had lost his hand. Both men had been cut across the chest, though it was not fatal. Saitoh, overcoming his surprise, grew angry at the policemen. If there was something he could not stand, it was a corrupt policeman.  
  
"You have dishonored the order of policemen. The penalty is death, so has the Wolf of Mibu spoken." judged Saitoh, before placing himself in the Gototsu style.  
  
"What? Who are you to say that?" asked the corrupt policeman angrily.  
  
"Saitoh Hajime, the Wolf of Mibu." said Saitoh "And now, you die. Gototsu!" he shouted, before launching himself at the policeman.  
  
Saitoh came in such speed that the policeman didn't know what hit him, until Saitoh's blade had pierced his chest and come out through the other side. The man gasped at the sudden pain, then fell dead. Saitoh removed his sword from the man's chest and cleaned it with a handkerchief. The girl just stood there, shocked, and on the verge of faint. Just as she was about to faint, Sanosuke grabbed her. Takato looked around to see if anyone had seen what had just happened but saw no one, and gave his friends a sign to follow him. They quickly arrived at an covered parking lot, and there settled the girl on the floor, till after about ten minutes, she regained consciousness. She woke up thinking it was all a dream, but quickly found herself wronged. Leaning against a car next to her was Sanosuke, and Kenshin and Takato were practicing their moves. Kang-Lin was watching them, and Yahiko was polishing his blade. Saitoh and Aoshi had gone to the roof of the parking lot and were watching the surroundings. Misao was counting to see if her knives were complete. The girl slowly sat up, but Sanosuke noticed this.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked her  
  
"Much, thank you." She replied, looking at Sanosuke.  
  
"Good, I'll tell the rest we can leave, then." he said, going towards Kenshin and Takato.  
  
"Uh, wait! Please?" she asked him  
  
"What is it?" he asked her  
  
"What's your name?" she asked  
  
"Sanosuke, but I'm called Sano by my friends." he replied, and left for the others.  
  
After they had all gathered near the exit, the girl volunteered to show them around. Takato politely turned down the offer, saying they were not far from his own house, but that she was welcome to come with them. The girl assented and left with them. After about an hour's walk, they finally arrived at Takato's house. As he had expected, no one was home, so he took out a spare key from under the mat and opened the door. He then took the key and placed it on the dining table and went to his room upstairs. Kang- Lin followed him, but Saitoh and Aoshi, plus Misao, decided to just chill in the lounge. Sanosuke and Yahiko were busy digging for food in the kitchen. Soon after, Takato came back down dressed in normal clothing, and he brought some clothes for the others as well. After they had all changed into normal clothing, Kang-Lin made some food for the companions. After discussing on possible places to find the chosen, they had agreed on four different places. At a disco house, at a gaming place, stores, or at trouble-brewing houses. Takato and Kang-Lin volunteered to go to search at discos, since it was mostly their domain and people knew them well there. Aoshi and Saitoh would search around trouble-brewing houses, since they could stop a feud in less than a minute. Yahiko and Misao were elected to go to the gaming places around the city, and Kenshin and Sanosuke volunteered to go to the stores. The girl, whose name they found out was Jessica, but liked to be called Jessie, was to wait for them here, until they came back. Takato and Kang-Lin then set out for the nearest discotheque, one where they had played frequently as a band. The others split up and went to their assigned places, though Saitoh and Aoshi had to ask people about trouble-brewing homes. Where Takato and Kang-Lin were, they had just reached the entrance of the discotheque, and were about o enter, when the man at the door barred their way.  
  
"Who do you think you are to come in here?" asked the man  
  
"Takato Taikashi and Kang-Lin Yamoto, of the Five Swords." announced Takato.  
  
"We used to play here, sir." added Kang-Lin.  
  
The man seemed impressed and looked at them in wonder.  
  
"You're the two singers of the Five Swords? Why, it's been a long time since I've heard any song from that band!" exclaimed the man. "Of course you may enter! Here, I'll open the gate." said the man, taking away the barrier from the door.  
  
"Thank you, sir. We'll be back real soon. We promise." said Takato.  
  
"I hope so, you're songs were stupendous!" said the man with a smile.  
  
Takato and Kang-Lin nodded and went inside. After going from table to table and finding nothing, they decided to sit down and have a drink. After ordering their drinks, they sat down and relaxed. Then, after their drinks had come, they heard a familiar song. In fact, it was a song they had played here.  
  
"Heart of Sword! It was our debut! Let's go dance, Takato-kun!" urged Kang- Lin  
  
"Ok, ok. Let's go." he laughed.  
  
He got up and gave her his hand, which she took. They then went to the dancing platform and started to dance. All throughout the song they would sing parts of it, since they knew it by heart already. As they danced to the music, Kang-Lin noticed two people still sitting down. They were very noticeable by the fact that one of them, a blonde boy, was wearing a huge sword on his back. The girl that was accompanying him was dressed very, immodestly one could say. Kang-Lin pointed them out to Takato, who nodded and whispered something in her ear, making her nod. They both stopped dancing and Kang-Lin went to their table while Takato went to the two they had noticed.  
  
"Can I help you?" asked the blonde boy, as he seemed to have less than twenty years of age.  
  
"Yes, in fact you can." said Takato with a smile, before discretely showing them his katana at his side, which was covered by his clothing. "You can help me by following me." added Takato.  
  
"Impressive blade. Now how do I know you won't kill us while we follow you?" asked the boy.  
  
"I am an honorable person. I would not kill you in cold blood." he said.  
  
"Seems fair enough. Let's go Tifa." said the boy.  
  
------------------------  
  
In a nearby town…  
  
------------------------  
  
Saitoh and Aoshi were pacing down the street, looking for a number. A number that will indicate to them were the chosen might be. They finally reached the house they were looking for. Inside, screams could be heard.  
  
"Looks like we found it." announced Saitoh  
  
"I agree. Let's go see." agreed Aoshi.  
  
They both started walking when they saw Yahiko and Misao run towards them down the street.  
  
"This following me thing is very sweet, but it gets annoying sometimes." commented Aoshi, watching the two run up to them.  
  
"Be glad she returns your love." said Saitoh with a grin, but then turned serious. "We better go inside, seems like a fight is going on." he said. Aoshi nodded and followed him up to the door. There, Yahiko and Misao finally reached them.  
  
"We heard that one of the chosen might be here at one of the gaming places." explained Yahiko when they were asked what they were doing here.  
  
"Well, it seems we may have a winner." said Saitoh. "Stand back."  
  
They did, for he got into position with his blade. They knew what he was doing. He was going to cut his way through the door with the Gototsu. How right they were.  
  
"Gototsu!" he shouted, as he launched himself through the door, breaking it apart. Inside, he put his blade back into it's sheath and the rest followed him in. It seemed no one had heard him and the fight was still continuing. They went all into the living room, where they saw a man beating his wife and a young girl huddled in a corner. Two other girls were huddled in another corner, all with a look of terror on their face. Saitoh took out a cigarette and lit it. As the smoke rose, the man stopped beating his wife and started smelling the air.  
  
"SMOKE? DO I SMELL SMOKE? WHO DARES SMOKE IN MY HOUSE!?" the man shouted.  
  
"Me. Got a problem with it?" replied Saitoh in a calm voice.  
  
The man turned around and saw the four companions in the entrance of his living room. His face was contorted with rage, yet his breath was solid with alcohol.  
  
"A drinker…I don't know if there are new laws in Japan now, but since I'm not one of the new policemen, I guess the old laws apply to me. In which case…" started Saitoh with his head bowed, but then he brought it up. "…You're under arrest."  
  
"Who do you think you are?" he asked  
  
"Saitoh Hajime, of the Tokyo Swordsmen Police, from the Meiji Era." said Saitoh.  
  
"Aoshi Shinomori of the Oniwabansu, Meiji Era." announced Aoshi.  
  
"Misao, also of the Oniwabanshu, Meiji Era." said Misao with a smile.  
  
"Yahiko, of the Kamiya Dojo, Meiji Era." Yahiko presented himself.  
  
"You should all be dead then…since time seemed to have not let that, I guess I'll finish the job!" shouted the drunk man, launching himself at Saitoh, knife in hand.  
  
"Wearing illegal arms in public, sentence is ten years in prison." announced Saitoh as he avoided the slashes from the man. "Beating your wife, fifteen years in prison." he continued " Assault on a law enforcer, penalty is death." ended Saitoh, taking out his sword and splitting the knife in two. Yahiko and Aoshi took out their own swords and went to each side of the man. Saitoh looked at him, and pointed his sword to the man's throat, Yahiko and Aoshi did the same from their side. The man snickered and then suddenly broke into a run to a table and grabbed a rifle from under it. He looked at the three companions and laughed maniacally, before firing his rifle at each of them. They quickly dodged the rounds and got into a defensive position. The man seemed to get frustrated and then decided to do something horrible. He pointed his rifle at the two girls in the corner, but they were then joined by the third girl, who, with her body, was blocking the way of the man's rifle. The man got even more frustrated and was about to fire, when through the window came crashing in Sanosuke and Kenshin. Kenshin took out his sword in a flash and destroyed the rifle. Sanosuke was too busy beating up the man at his own game by punching the living daylights out of him.  
  
"How did you know what was going on here?" asked Aoshi  
  
"Instinct, on Kenshin's part." explained Sanosuke.  
  
Aoshi nodded and turned to the women.  
  
"You are free to leave whenever you want to. Or you could request us to throw this worthless piece of garbage out of here." he added with disgust.  
  
"Thank you, for stopping him. Can we ever repay you?" asked the woman gratefully.  
  
"You could help us. We are looking for someone. We don't know his or her name, nor do we know what he/she looks like. All we know is that she might be acting differently from normal standards" explained Saitoh.  
  
"I see. Well, the only person I would know that doesn't act very normally, by social standards is my daughter over there." the woman said, pointing at the girl that had put herself in the line of fire.  
  
"Courageous girl, definitely not normal. At least not in this kind of family." said Yahiko, upon seeing Misao's angry face.  
  
"Ease it, Misao. We don't need any trouble inside our ranks right now." said Aoshi  
  
Misao nodded and calmed down. Yahiko gave a sigh of relief. Kenshin came then to the girl that the woman had pointed out.  
  
"Hello, my name is Kenshin. Kenshin Himura. We're not going to hurt you. We need your help for something very important. You yourself are very important. Why, I don't know, but you are, for the Council to choose you." he explained.  
  
The girl nodded and straightened herself up.  
  
"My name if Lisa." she said, bowing  
  
"I already told you my name, but I bow in salute." said Kenshin with a smile, and then bowing.  
  
The rest followed suit and then left the room and out of the house.  
  
"I now have to ask you to pack your things, because we are going to have to leave for a very long while. After we're done with you, you'll have to go to the Council's World, so I suggest you say goodbye to your mother and sisters." said Kenshin before leaving.  
  
The girl nodded and was left with her mom and sisters. Outside, Aoshi and Saitoh had just thrown the drunken man into the street with a look of disgust on their faces.  
  
"Leave this place, and don't bother calling the police or anyone. If something happens to this family, we will know, and then our wrath shall know no ends and you will die. We will always watch over this household and it's occupants." announced Yahiko.  
  
The man simply looked back in a wrathful mood and left the place running. Soon after, they were joined by Kenshin and the girl. Kenshin was carrying several bags. Sanosuke made Kenshin drop them and he carried them back to Takato's house.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Outside the Discotheque…  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Takato had just turned around as soon as they had come into the alley. Kang- Lin came right behind them and was in a defensive stance.  
  
"What are you doing in a discotheque with a huge sword on your back and dressed like that?" asked Takato, with a hint of disgust at the site of the girl's clothing.  
  
"We always dress like this, and I don't go anywhere without my sword, now it's my turn. What do you want from us?" asked the boy.  
  
"First, your name." demanded Takato  
  
"Cloud. Now, answer my question." replied Cloud.  
  
"Apparently, we were looking for someone, but it seems we found him. You AND the girl." explained Takato  
  
"What for?" asked Tifa  
  
"I have to help a friend, but I can't not without your help. Now please, follow me to my place, where the others have to have arrived already." requested Takato  
  
"Fine, we will." agreed Cloud.  
  
"Thank you. Kang-Lin, let's go." said Takato.  
  
Kang-Lin rushed up to him and they both walked, hand in hand, out of the alleyway, followed by Cloud and Tifa. After they arrived at Takato's place, they found that the others were indeed there already with the other chosen. Takato then made them follow him into his room, where his computer was on standby. He introduced his pendant into the screen.  
  
"Digiworld UNLOCK!" shouted Takato, but instead of absorbing him normally, the portal seemed to emit a more powerful light, blinding all of them, and then absorbed them.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
At the Palace's Entrance  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Takato suddenly felt his consciousness return to him and he slowly stood up. He looked around and saw that his companions were all up. He then saw that Aoshi and Saitoh were on the other side of the barrier. Takato lightened up and then tried crossing it. It worked.  
  
"The Chosen were busy while you were down, Takato. They were able to break the barrier. They're all gone now, into the Council's world." explained Kenshin.  
  
"I see. Well then, let's go inside." announced Takato.  
  
His companions nodded and then followed him into the Palace. Takato led them through the entrance, where little resistance was met. Since they had defeated the Dark Riders, most of the digimon had fled in terror, or had just surrendered when they saw the group approaching. When they finally reached the Throne Room, the door swung open and on the throne, with a calm, yet evil look, sat the Prince in all his darkness. By his side was a sword and at his other side was Kaizer, sword unsheathed. A scowl grew on the Prince's face as he looked at Takato.  
  
"You have defeated my best, after Kaizer. You dare to still oppose me. Do you not have any idea how powerful I am? Here, I shall show you, for Kaizer and I are not the last of my reign, no, there are more. Dark Angemon! Come here!" shouted the Prince, making a shadowy figure come up from behind the Prince.  
  
"Yes, my Prince?" asked Dark Angemon.  
  
"These people have destroyed our reign here, but we shall not go down without a fight! Kill them all! Leave none standing! Women and all!" ordered the Prince, pointing at them with such rage that his finger shook.  
  
Kaizer and Dark Angemon nodded before lunging at their opponents. Saitoh, Aoshi, and Misao would take care of Kaizer, while Kang-Lin, Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Yahiko would take care of Dark Angemon. Takato was left, straight in front of the Prince, sword unsheathed. The Prince stepped down from his throne and took out his sword.  
  
"Why don't you transform? It will make this a much more amusing challenge?" asked the Prince  
  
"Is that what you want? To have fun? TK, wake up! This is no game, you are risking the lives of two of your comrades and of innocent people and digimon through this madness of yours!" cried Takato, bringing out his pendant. "And as designed Defender of Hope by the Council, I have no choice but to fight you. Pendant of Power that was given to me, AWAKEN!" he ended in a shout  
  
The familiar light shot out of his pendant and then flew straight towards Takato. Takato suddenly felt energized as the beam of light crossed through him. The light then absorbed him and then a golden light shot out of the top of the light.  
  
"Pendant that was given to the chosen one, augment your power, this is ordered by us, the High Council!" shouted several voices from nowhere in particular.  
  
The golden beam then changed it's course and came back down onto the white light, making it turn gold. Takato's naked arms appeared, but were quickly covered with a golden-orange armor that covered his upper arms and his wrists. On his elbows were flexible, yet very hard armor that ensured protection from any weapon. As his legs appeared, his tibias were covered with golden armor and straps ran around the back of his legs, which ensured that the armor would not fall off. Under the armor was a white fabric that covered his whole body except his head and hands. His hands were completely naked but they had a golden look to them. His chest and thigh were all covered with the golden armor, and on his chest was the Crest of Hope, which shone like the light of day. His head was also bare, except for a small golden strap that ran from his forehead to the back of his head. At his side was a katana in a golden sheathe. Takato then took a ready stance as the light died down.  
  
"Whenever you're ready, TK." said Takato, with the usual grown-up voice.  
  
"Even like this you cannot beat me." scoffed the Prince, making his blade twirl in front of him. "Dark Twister!" shouted the Prince, causing a spurt of black wind to shoot out at Takato.  
  
Takato took out his blade in a split second and successfully deflected it. Back to the others, Saitoh's group was not fairing very well, as Kaizer was beating them to every move and kept surprising them behind them. Kang-Lin's group was literally being crushed by Dark Angemon's power.  
  
"Shoot! He's way too strong!" shouted Yahiko  
  
"Dammit! Doesn't this guy have a single weak point?" shouted Sanosuke  
  
"Calm down Sano, if we get irritated we won't be able to concentrate and he'll win for sure" explained Kenshin  
  
"Easier said than done!" replied Sanosuke, before a punch from the digimon got him in the stomach, sending him flying into a wall.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!" cried Yahiko, before lunging at Dark Angemon at his side.  
  
Dark Angemon grabbed Yahiko and then threw him with great strength towards Sanosuke. Kenshin was next, accompanied by Kang-Lin, but both were easily thrown towards their comrades. Kenshin, Kang-Lin, and Sanosuke got up but were badly hurt. Yahiko was still knocked out and on the floor.  
  
"You have no chance against me, humans. I am far more powerful than any of you!" said Dark Angemon  
  
"Independently, yes, but not as a team! Get him, guys!" shouted Kenshin, before all three friends lunged at Dark Angemon, tired as they were. Dark Angemon was caught off guard and nine slashes and about fifteen kicks and punches landed on him, knocking him down. All three friends fell to the ground, exhausted, but still living. Dark Angemon was presumed knocked out, but he quietly got up and prepared to kill the three while they were down, when suddenly, a crash was heard behind Dark Angemon, and then the digimon fell to the ground, unconscious. Yahiko stood behind with his old bokken, broken from the hit he had given Dark Angemon. Back to where Saitoh and Aoshi were with Misao, the fight was not going well against Kaizer. Saitoh and Aoshi were bleeding from various parts, and Misao had a slight cut on her hands, making her unable to throw her knives. Suddenly, Aoshi got an idea and gave a specific look to Saitoh who nodded and ran opposite from Aoshi, who did the same. Kaizer grew confused and then both men started circling Kaizer, always running. Kaizer saw himself helpless against this strategy, as he could not make out where his enemies were. Then, suddenly, Saitoh and Aoshi lunged at Kaizer from opposite directions. Kaizer was completely off guard, which proved to be a very painful mistake. Aoshi and Saitoh used their own respective techniques, which caused about seven gashes, all of them pretty bad, to appear through Kaizer's body. Kaizer then fell to his knees and then fell to the ground face first. Misao and Aoshi, having learned to help everyone, even their enemies, if misguided, came to clear Kaizer's wounds after taking away his sword and searching for any other weapon that could be hidden. Meanwhile, Takato and the Prince were fighting it out pretty fiercely, but Takato made sure he wouldn't kill the Prince, but the feeling was not mutual. The Prince was constantly trying to kill Takato. They both back flipped and ran toward opposite directions, ran up part of a wall and used the wall as an impulse to launch themselves towards the other. They both came towards each other at full speed, katanas ready to strike. When they reached each other, both katanas came down, but they deflected each other, making both kids to come down towards the floor suddenly, making them lose their balance. They fell to the ground but quickly got up and faced each other. The Prince resumed his attack fiercely and finally was able to connect his katana with Takato's forehead, causing a shallow gash to form on his forehead. Takato then countered with a slash of his own, but missed. The Prince then retaliated by bringing down his katana once more, making another shallow gash on Takato's forehead, making both gashes form a cross. One of the gashes ran down to the beginning of his nose and the other ran from brow to brow. Takato was then so much powered by his pendant that he brought up his sword and brought it down on the Prince's. The Prince tried to deflect it, but Takato's katana split it into two. The Prince fell back because of the impulse of the hit and when he recovered from his hit, Takato was towering over him, his katana pointed at the Prince's heart. The Prince gave a shocked, but then an angry expression.  
  
"Well? What are you waiting for? Kill me!" shouted the Prince  
  
"No, I won't." answered Takato, gravely.  
  
"Why not? Because that stupid and treacherous girl Kari told you not to? You are truly blind!" reprimanded the Prince  
  
"How so?" asked Takato in a neutral tone.  
  
"She is not what she appears to be. The Emperor has shown me this, and I have heard it too. She pretended to love me when she loved another! She loved Davis! I will never forgive her for that lie!" shouted back the Prince  
  
"Do not be a fool!" shouted Takato in an irritated yet humored tone. "She never loved him. Only as a friend, but no more. Why Davis defended her in Switzerland was because he wanted to protect her from you, not TK, but the Prince, a madman who has lost all reason!" ended Takato.  
  
"Right. So how come I heard her saying exactly the opposite thing from what you have just said?" asked the Prince mockingly  
  
"When was that?" asked Takato curiously  
  
"Four months ago." replied the Prince  
  
"She was madly in love with you then and still is. If you were just to come back, and take her into your arms as her boyfriend and fiancé, her love would only triple and know no boundaries." said Takato.  
  
"Lies!" shouted back the Prince.  
  
Then, several lights appeared all around Takato and the Prince. Takato's friends closed in and got into the circle. Out of each light came a Council member. The King and Queen then neared towards Takato and stood at his sides, with grave and yet understanding faces.  
  
"My son, you have been lied to by the forces of evil. Dagomon is at his tricks again and soon Daemon will also come out from the Dark World and come back for revenge. He sent you that tape, not a friend. He deluded you into thinking this was your destiny. Have you forgotten what you were born into? Have you forgotten the promise you made to Kari when you faced Piedmon? The one when you confessed your love to her?" asked the Queen.  
  
"How do I know you are telling me the truth?" asked the Prince, his black eyes fading into a darker shade of blue.  
  
"We have monitored Dagomon's activities for a while now, and after capturing one of his cronies, we learned of the tapes. They were done to make you his plaything." reported the King.  
  
TK's eyes then went back to their original shade of light blue. He got on his knees and then on all fours and started crying.  
  
"So much evil and crimes I have done to both humans and digimon. So much people have I corrupted…" he cried.  
  
Takato armored down and kneeled beside TK. He put a hand on TK's shoulder and looked into his eyes.  
  
"It was not your fault. We do not blame you for nothing, for it was the Prince and not TK who did those crimes." comforted Takato  
  
"I still cannot look at Kari and my friends in the face after all of this. I must leave them for a while and take my own path until I can forgive myself at least." said TK, and then seeing Takato's oncoming protest, continued. "You must understand, these crimes were horrible, I must confront them and after confronting them, I must forgive myself for doing them."  
  
"Since there is no dissuading you form this, I guess it is how it must be. Good luck, my friend." said Takato, putting out his hand.  
  
TK debated within himself over taking it or not, but then took it and shook it, before leaving with a katana and an orange cloak, presents of the King and Queen, and a now devolved Patamon. After he had left the Palace, the King turned towards Takato with a smile.  
  
"Well done. You surpassed all of our greatest hopes and more. We thank you, Takato. As well as your friends here present who helped." he said. "Yet there is little time to celebrate. Your brothers and sisters need you in Server. I take it you are all going?" asked the King to Takato's group.  
  
"If we weren't, you have to make us stay." said Kang-Lin.  
  
"I see. Very well then, we shall transport you to Server. You can expect to see TK from time to time there, too. He shall be like Aoshi, roaming in his quest for forgiveness." said the King.  
  
After that, Takato and his group got into a circle and the Council summoned this pillar of light, which made them fall asleep, but also transported them to Server, where a new kind of adventure was awaiting them. 


	5. The Battle for Geneva

Knights of the Crests World Wide  
  
Switzerland  
  
Note, this is the beginning of the Emperor Saga, meaning that battles will now be in the real world in Switzerland and in the Digital World.  
  
To my Cousin Gaby, Happy B-Day  
  
(January 30, 2002)  
  
----------------------------------------------------*----------------------- ---------------------------The Battle For Geneva  
  
The Emperor sat on his dark throne, pondering why his Prince had not signed in for more than two weeks. As he did, he did not notice the arrival of his closest servant, Etheniel. He did not speak until the Emperor's gaze finally came in contact with him.  
  
"What is it, Etheniel?" asked the Emperor.  
  
"Sire, we have finally received news from the Prince's Palace." reported Etheniel  
  
"Splendid. Have the Rebels been crushed finally?" asked the Emperor  
  
"That is the problem, sire. They are not, and the Rebel emblem is hoisted on top of the Palace. We believe the Prince has been beaten." answered Etheniel.  
  
"I see…so, the Prince, my second, has been beaten by a ragtag group of Rebels? Are you mocking me?" asked the Emperor angrily.  
  
"No sire, I am not. Please forgive me if I seemed to. Yet we have proof of the Prince's defeat at the hands of the Rebels." apologized Etheniel  
  
"Which are?" asked the Emperor  
  
"We were able to retrieve the security camera tapes from the Throne Room. There appeared to have a fight there, where the Prince was almost winning, but then the Rebels got smart and won over Kaizer and Dark Angemon. Then, one of the Rebels, presumably the leader, took on the Prince and they both had a ferocious battle, where the Rebel eventually split the Prince's sword in two. That's where the tape ends." reported Etheniel.  
  
"I see…so, Takato has mastered his power. We shall see if it is the same for his brother and sisters…" said the Emperor with an evil smile.  
  
Etheniel bowed and then left the room, leaving the Emperor to his thoughts. They had beaten the Prince, and he guessed they were now heading for him. Good thing he had a hostage, just in case.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------*-------------------- ---------------------------  
  
Jonathan and his group walked for miles and miles, until they finally came to a small village. There, the digimon were all busy carrying on their lives as usual, as if no war was going on. Jonathan gave his team a sign to move on and they all nodded. As they entered into the town, some digimon turned their heads towards them, but then got back to work. They then reached the town bar-hotel. Jonathan came in first, followed by Hyryuu and Legolas. The girls then came in and Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli came behind them, as rear guard. Jonathan and Hyryuu came up to the bartender.  
  
"Excuse me, but do you have any spare rooms?" asked Jonathan  
  
"'Fraid not, son. This gang from the West came in and took all of the rooms." apologized the bartender digimon, an old Barmon.  
  
Jonathan nodded in understanding and left the bar, accompanied by Hyryuu, and came back to the others.  
  
"Well?" asked Christina  
  
"No rooms." replied Hyryuu  
  
"So how do we spend the night?" asked Hikaru  
  
"Well, we could sleep outside…" suggested Gimli  
  
"Not a good idea. I've heard an assassin has been roaming this area for weeks now. They say he works for no one but himself. No one has been able to defeat him, much less survive him." replied Aragorn.  
  
"Well, why don't we try?" asked Boromir. "I'm not afraid of no assassin!" he exclaimed, making every sound in the bar cease.  
  
Jonathan slapped his forehead and Hyryuu gave a sigh of exasperation. Every digimon was now looking at them in horror and surprise. Murmurs could be heard throughout the whole bar.  
  
"Did you hear that? He's defying the Hitokiri!" said one  
  
"He must have lost all will of living." said another  
  
"No one defies the Hitokiri and survives the night!" said another one.  
  
Jonathan looked around and heard some of the murmurs. From behind them, Gandalf had just entered the bar-hotel, after accomplishing some unknown task to the others.  
  
"Seems, Boromir, that your big mouth has opened once more when it was not needed." he said  
  
"I still can't believe they are afraid of one assassin. I mean, if he's not an Imperialist, and he's not a Rebel or Council Member, then what is he?" asked Boromir.  
  
"There are some things you are not supposed to know in life, Boromir." replied Gandalf  
  
They were about to leave when someone grabbed Hikaru from behind and stopped her, causing her to give a small gasp. Hyryuu turned back to look who had done that. Two drunken digimon were smiling nastily at her.  
  
"Hey babe, what's your sign?" asked one  
  
"Want to have a little fun with us?" asked the other  
  
"You two got some nerve to say that to my girlfriend!" shouted sharply Hyryuu at them  
  
"Bug off kid. MEGA FIST!" shouted the first one, causing Hyryuu to fly backwards and into a wall at full speed.  
  
Hyryuu hit the wall at full strength, but it did not break. Hyryuu's face was bowed down, as if unconscious, but they could see he was still breathing. After about five minutes, he slowly got up, head still bowed. After he had gotten himself up fully, he shot his head up suddenly, showing that his brown eyes were now of a golden color.  
  
"What the…?" asked one of the drunk digimon  
  
Hyryuu left no space for answer. He took out his blade and ran at them. He ran right pass them, but on the way made two fatal slashes at the digimon. After he came to a stop, the digimon started to vanish into data. Hyryuu then put his sword back, just as his friends were starting to leave the place. Once they had gotten outside, several rough looking digimon came out and blocked their way.  
  
"Please remove yourself from our way." requested Jonathan calmly.  
  
"Hell now way! Not after your friend here cut our pals into slices." said one of them  
  
"They started the conflict and assaulted my brother's girlfriend. The blame is on them." replied Jonathan calmly, though his patience was ending.  
  
"I don't give a damn who started it! Both of them are gone because of him, so he's going down, and if any of you get in the way, we'll take you down too!" threatened the digimon.  
  
"This is my son you are talking about, mister…" said Legolas, his fists shaking.  
  
"Bug off stranger! This is between us and the kid." said another digimon  
  
Legolas looked up, his eyes turned pure white. His clothing changed into his Elven Angel clothes, his two white wings protruded from his back.  
  
"I will not allow you to hurt my son. Not now, not ever." announced Legolas, taking out a sword from it's hilt at his side.  
  
"Taking us on, eh stranger?" mocked one of the digimon, unimpressed by this transformation  
  
"Damn right I am." replied Legolas  
  
Jonathan and Hyryuu had seen enough and where about to transform when a gust of wind shot past them and onto the digimon, making them lose their balance a bit, but quickly recovering. All of them looked back and saw that the sun had set. A look of horror came upon the digimons' faces, as they knew this was the time of the Hitokiri.  
  
"You made us stay out here until sun set! We are doomed!" cried one.  
  
"We can still save ourselves, get into the bar-hotel!" shouted the leader  
  
"We can't! The owner locked up the place." answered another digimon.  
  
Just then, the town clock sounded, and the digimon looked at the clock tower. On top of the tower was a lone figure, a katana in hand, flashing in the moonlight. Flapping around him was an orange-like cloak and on his shoulder was a digimon.  
  
"Night has fallen. The wrong shall be corrected." exclaimed the figure  
  
"The Hitokiri!" the digimon cried  
  
The figure jumped off the tower and landed safely onto the ground and walked towards them.  
  
"I hear you digimon have been acting badly for a while…how much is the Emperor paying you for your services here?" asked the figure to the digimon  
  
"I…we don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Hitokiri." replied the leader  
  
"Right…well, I do know how much…you get fifteen thousand digicredits for each job done, most of them being murder, assault, terrorism, among others." said the figure, his tone a lot more cold than it was. "Now then, what shall I do with you? Patamon? What do you say?" asked the figure to his digimon  
  
"Let them go. Everyone deserves a second chance." replied Patamon  
  
"True. This is my verdict. You are to leave this town and never come back, unless you are not under the Emperor's service or influence." said the figure, before turning his back on the digimon and going towards Jonathan and his team.  
  
"You may deform, Holy Angel, father of Jonathan and Hyryuu, Knights of Loyalty and Justice. Go to the north, a camp will be ready for you there. No one shall bother you there, I promise." the figure told them  
  
After that, the figure got a bit back and threw something on the floor, causing a flash. After the flash disappeared, so had the figure. He was nowhere to be seen. The digimon then looked at the team and prepared to attack them.  
  
"I don't care what the Hitokiri says! We can't go back without some prize!" exclaimed the leader. That proved to be the last thing he said that night or ever again.  
  
Just as the leader had said that, the figure had appeared in front of him and slashed him through the chest, killing the leader instantly. The figure then proceeded towards the other digimon, killing them all quickly. An Angemon had appeared with him, helping the Hitokiri in his work. After all the digimon had fallen, the figure retreated quickly into the shadows. Jonathan and Hyryuu stood shocked at what had just happened.  
  
"Well, we should go now I guess…nothing more to watch." suggested Kim  
  
"True…let's go. We must get some sleep for tomorrow, we must find that floating fortress." said Gandalf.  
  
The others nodded and followed Aragorn, who led them to the north, where, just as the figure had said, there lay a camp, ready to accommodate anyone. They all went to sleep except for Jonathan and Christina, who couldn't sleep. Jonathan got up form his sleeping bag and went to sit on a log. Hyryuu, who was sleeping next to him, was snoring. Jonathan looked upwards and looked at the stars. Christina, who was just laying there, trying to go to sleep, noticed him then, and quietly got up, so as to not wake up Hikaru or Kim. She got up and then went to sit beside Jonathan on the log. Jonathan had heard her, but had made her think he hadn't. She was silent for a while, until Jonathan finally spoke up.  
  
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" asked Jonathan, still looking at the stars.  
  
"Well…yes…I couldn't." she replied, somewhat surprised by his sudden statement.  
  
"I was thinking…after we are done here…that means I have to go back home to Japan. I may never see you again after this adventure." he said  
  
"Don't think like that!" she told him. "You leaving Switzerland does not mean we won't see each other again!"  
  
"Kinda hard for someone to talk to his girlfriend two continents away…" said Jonathan  
  
"Only if the person deems it so. Tell me Jonathan, are you in love with me?" asked Christina, stunning him a bit.  
  
"What do you mean? Of course I am! I mean, for me, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen I my life. Believe me, I've seen LOTS of girl in my life, all of them fans." he said  
  
"I know you are, but how deep?" she pressured  
  
"To the heart of my soul" he replied honestly  
  
"Then there shouldn't be a problem. If you do love me that way, then we will meet again. Destiny does that to lovers, it separates them to test them, and then bring them back together if they pass the test. I'm ready to pass mine. Are you?" she asked him  
  
"I am…For you, I am ready for any test, be it of strength, will, or thinking." he replied, still honestly.  
  
That was enough of an answer for her. She closed up on him and kissed him gently on the lips. He returned the kiss happily, but they soon broke apart.  
  
"We better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." he said  
  
"Yes, you're right. We better go to sleep." she agreed.  
  
They both nodded and went to their respective sleeping bags. Soon after, they both fell asleep. From atop one of the trees surrounding the camp, stood a loone figure watching.  
  
"Soon…very soon…I will be able to kiss upon a girl like that again." it sighed, before jumping up and disappearing with the wind.  
  
The next day came and the team slowly woke up one by one. They decided all to go to the bar-hotel for breakfast, but found that on one was in town.  
  
"Call me crazy, but this seems too familiar…" said Hyryuu  
  
"Only thing missing is a crazed maniac with two swords trying to kill us." agreed Jonathan.  
  
They all went back to camp and there tried to cook something, but there wasn't enough food to fill everyone. After Jonathan and Hyryuu volunteered to go find some food somewhere, the rest decided to take a nap, that way, they would forget their hunger. When they woke up, they saw Jonathan and Hyryuu running up to them, and a very close smell of smoke in the air. They looked up and saw that the sky was darkened by smoke and quickly got up. They turned to where the town is and saw a great blazing fire consuming the town slowly. Jonathan and Hyryuu finally reached them.  
  
"Let's go! The town is burning up! We have to stop that fire!" ordered Jonathan  
  
"Right!" they all said.  
  
"I'll try and see if I can do anything to stop it!" said Jin, taking out her pendant. "Power of the Pendant AWAKE!" she shouted, making a green light appear from her pendant. "Flower of Life!" she cried. Soon after, she was standing in her armor, as a teenager, of course.  
  
"Quickly, catch up when you can. I will try to stop the fire!" she said before rushing off with Gandalf.  
  
The others quickly got out their pendants/weapons.  
  
"Pendants of Power AWAKEN!" shouted the Knights  
  
"Fire of Compassion!" shouted Catherine, a red tornado of flame engulfing her, making her armor appear.  
  
"Wind of Compassion!" shouted Kim with a smile, her armor appearing on her body.  
  
"Typhoon of Loyalty!" shouted Hyryuu, growing taller and becoming fully armored.  
  
"Sword of Justice!" shouted Jonathan, growing taller and fully armored.  
  
Christina felt a sudden surge of energy as she glowed silver. "Cross of Faith!" shouted Christina.  
  
Christina's clothes were immediately changed into a silver fabric, as armor started appearing on her body. Her chest and thigh were all covered with silver armor. Her chest armor mostly covered her chest, and shoulders, leaving the stomach unprotected. On her arms appeared elbow protectors, also silver. Her hands were covered with white gloves and at in one hand was a silver staff with a golden star on one end. Her thigh armor had four long pieces of armor coming out of it and pointing downwards. One was covering the front, one her right, one her left, and one her back. Her legs were covered with the fabric and her shoes had silver wings protruding from their sides. Her hair was allowed to flow through the air freely.  
  
Hikaru felt the same surge of energy and gave a smile. "Creation of the World!" she shouted, making a light of brown, green, blue, and white engulf her  
  
Her armor resembled that of Christina's except for the fact that the armor was light blue, the fabric white, her gloves brown, and her staff green with a small orb at one end.  
  
Legolas' eyes once again turned white, before angel wings came out of his back and his clothing changed once more. Aragorn's eyes seemed to turn golden, before gray armor appeared on him, making him look like a medieval knight, were it not for his kingly face. Boromir, who was already in armor, only took out his sword and blew his horn, telling everyone he was ready. Gimli simply took out his axe and gave a battle cry to scare any monster away. The whole team stood there, ready for battle.  
  
"Let's do this." said Jonathan  
  
Yells of approval greeted this statement as they all rushed out of the forest and into the burning town. Jin and Gandalf could be seen, trying to stop the fire from spreading. Jonathan and Hyryuu rushed ´passed them and into the fire.  
  
"Water Pillar!" shouted Hyryuu, producing exactly that.  
  
The Water Pillar managed to extinguish most of the fire, but there was still a lot more to bring down. Jonathan's turn came.  
  
"Balance of Justice!" he shouted, twirling his sword, which had started glowing gold. After a while, it shot a golden beam into the fire, making the fire turn golden, then disappear.  
  
The fire had been put out, but there was no digimon in town. They did not de-armor, but instead started searching for the inhabitants. At last they reached the middle of the town, where the bar-hotel and the clock tower where. They looked inside of the bar-hotel but found no one. Then, a sharp whistle came from the clock tower. They turned to see who it was. On top of the tower was the Hitokiri, looking down onto them.  
  
"If you are looking for the inhabitants, they are all dead." he said.  
  
"You killed them?" asked Jonathan  
  
"No, the Emperor did. After hearing that you were here, he sent his Dark Bearers here to kill and destroy the town. They took advantage of your disappearance from the town to slaughter the town and make it into one big bonfire." the Hitokiri said  
  
"I see…where did they go?" asked Jonathan.  
  
"They are not in this world." replied the Hitokiri  
  
"Where are they then?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"Home." simply said the Hitokiri.  
  
A look of horror appeared on the Knights' faces as they heard that word. Angelique…Nancy…their friends…the world…  
  
"How? How did they get there?" demanded Jonathan  
  
"The Emperor, as you know, is a destined, he can choose to go from dimension to dimension at his will." replied the Hitokiri  
  
"Very well, we are following him then!" shouted Jonathan  
  
"Wise decision…and don't worry, your mother is still alive. I can feel it." replied the Hitokiri.  
  
"Thank you. Let's move out!" ordered Jonathan to his team.  
  
All of them nodded and followed him to the nearest portal, where they transported back to Switzerland. There, they got a transmission from Angelique.  
  
"Kids, be careful. The Dark Bearers have brought an army of evil digimon with them. They are attacking the whole world at once! Do not worry about the other countries, their Digidestined are holding off the digimon very well. Keep Switzerland safe, though. They have no Chosen at all!" she said.  
  
Jonathan nodded and led the Knights up to the top of a building and led them from building top to building top into the center of the city. Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli were following them through the streets on horseback. Legolas was flying over all of them with his angel wings. As they were trying to reach the center of the city, an alarm wail rang throughout the city. The Knights knew what this meant, the digimon were attacking Geneva.  
  
"A tous les hommes disponible! Aux Armes! Genève est en pleine attaque! Les villes Zurich et Berne son aussi en trein de se fair attaquer! Ne laisser pas que Genève tombe! Vive la Confederation Suisse!" said several loudspeakers throughout the city in French.  
  
"If my knowledge in languages does not fail me…I think those speakers just said Geneva is under attack as well as Zurich and Bern…" muttered Jonathan, while jumping onto another roof.  
  
Smoke could be seen coming out from the center of the city, as well as gunfire.  
  
"I never knew the Swiss had an army!" said Hyryuu, seeing man upon man, armed to the tooth running through the streets into the heart of the city.  
  
"They don't. The Swiss train every man in their country as soldiers to afterwards be a potential soldier. Most of the recruits go there voluntarily, with the exception of the pacifists, that is." replied Christina, as she jumped onto another roof.  
  
They were rapidly reaching the center of the city, where more smoke could be seen rising. From time to time, they would see tanks and other military vehicles roam through the streets to the center of the city. They greatly admired the patriotism that the Swiss showed. Even when they knew that the invaders were more powerful than they, they would not fall without a strong fight.  
  
"These people are fascinating…they will not give up under any circumstances!" exclaimed Gandalf from his horse.  
  
"Indeed…had we had enough of those, The War of the Ring would of ended a lot faster!" said Aragorn from his seat.  
  
They finally reached the center of the city, were the city hall was. At the doors of the hall were many armed men fighting the incoming digimon invaders. The fighting the men had put up seemingly impressed some of the digimon, but still they came on. Jonathan knew that the men could not hold out any longer. Atop of the men was a flying digimon who was about to attack them, it's attack would kill them instantly, yet Legolas would have any of that happen. He flew at full speed into the digimon, knocking the digimon to the ground. The guards down below looked up and at the sight of the angel, cheered and fought on in renewed hope. Legolas brought forth his sword and pointed it to the incoming wave of digimon. Out of the sky dove hundred of Elves, all on top of giant eagles, bows out. Aragorn then dove out of the streets followed by Boromir, Gandalf, and Gimli, and the Shadow Army behind them. Form the rooftop of a nearby building, Jonathan and the Knights dove down onto the huge digimon army. The Swiss National Guard then cheered at the sight of their reinforcements and fought on so valiantly and fiercely, that they were able to turn the tide of battle against the digimon army. SAM missile holders were brought up and fired against the flying digimon, even if they were already being slaughtered by the Elven Flying Army. Tanks rolled into battle and fired upon the ground digimon, blowing them to bits. Men fired guns, rifles, automatic weapons, among other more close weapons and brought down digimon after digimon. The commander of the Digimon Army was not surrendering, however, and instead was fighting himself, bringing down good men. The Commander was a Myotismon. Jonathan went up to meet him, and Myotismon came onto him. Hyryuu, on the other hand, was busy fighting alongside the Swiss soldiers. Fighting one digimon after another one, they were able to break the enemy lines and, giving a loud battle cry, led the soldiers into the digimon ranks. The girls however, were busy helping the wounded. Jin, with her gift of healing, was making miracles come true. A soldier on the verge of death would suddenly heal, and be able to fight. The others were using their own powers to encourage, or enflame the soldiers with Passion, Faith, or Compassion. Hikaru was helping refugees of that area to evacuate safely until the battle was over. Jonathan and Myotismon were fighting ferociously, not letting the other have a break at any time. Soon, after both of them had dealt each other sufficient wounds to have killed fifteen normal people, Jonathan stood up, twirled his sword, and rushed at Myotismon, taking him by surprise. Jonathan's sword stopped twirling suddenly and went through Myotismon's chest and into his heart.  
  
"I hear swords can't kill vampires, let's see if that's true." hissed Jonathan.  
  
Myotismon only gasped from the sudden loss of air and slumped down to the floor, dead. At his death, the digimon suddenly back away from the defenders and began retreating out of the city. Hyryuu gave another battle cry and the Swiss Guard gave chase, Aragorn leading them on horseback. Behind them, the Shadow Army was also giving chase to the digimon army, led by Gimli, Gandalf, and Boromir. The Knights once again got on top of a building and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Suddenly, when they almost reached the digimon army, a black gap appeared in the sky and out came a Dark Bearer, followed by an enormous amount of digimon, ready for battle.  
  
"It's a trap! Fall back!" shouted Jonathan  
  
Christina shouted the same, but in French. The soldiers nodded and ran back to the center of the city, firing backwards from time to time to cover their escape. Aragorn did not retreat though, he sat there, majestically on top of his horse, sword in hand. His friends quickly caught up and did likewise. The Elven Flying Army was still in the sky, led by Legolas. Behind Aragorn was the Shadow Army, ready for battle with lustful eyes. Aragorn then gave a sudden battle cry so loud and ferocious that some of the digimon shrank back. The Shadow Army took the sign and dashed forward towards the enemy. Aragorn bid his horse forward and went through the digimon ranks, hacking at the digimon. Boromir and Gimli did likewise. Gandalf had taken out his staff and was making mass attacks against the digimon army. The Dark Bearer was nearing them with eyes full of hatred. He caught Aragorn off guard and slashed away Aragorn's sword. Aragorn was then thrown off his horse, leaving him helpless at the Dark Bearer's mercy, had he any. The Dark Bearer was about to strike down his sword when a portal opened in the sky and out came eight figures onto the digimon army. The lead figure took out a golden sword and came down onto the digimon like a flying blade of death. As soon as he touched the ground, the figure cut his way through towards the Dark Bearer. The other seven figures were taking a pretty high toll on the digimon. The figure then caught up onto the Dark Bearer and lunged at him. The Dark Bearer blocked the lunge, though with difficulty.  
  
"You again!" shouted the Bearer  
  
"Yep…Miss me?" asked the figure mockingly.  
  
"You wish! I will bring you down once and for all Knight of Hope!" shouted the Bearer  
  
"Takato?!" shouted Aragorn in evident surprise  
  
"Hey Aragorn! How're you doing? Came as fast as I could. But bozo here cut me off halfway here." Takato said, slashing at the Dark Bearer  
  
"Don't call me bozo!" shouted the Dark Bearer, lunging at Takato, who simply side-stepped it.  
  
"You really should practice on your aiming." suggested Takato smugly  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted the Bearer in frustration, still trying to hit Takato, who kept dodging each attack.  
  
Finally, Takato got tired of this and took out his own sword. He started to run around the Bearer at such speed that only a blur could be seen. He then suddenly came onto the Bearer, took him by his chest armor, and threw him into the sky. Takato then pointed his sword at him, which shot a golden beam at the Bearer. The beam was about to connect with the Bearer when it suddenly exploded. From the clouds of the explosion dove out the Bearer, his eyes red, sword out.  
  
"Uh-oh…" muttered Takato  
  
The Bearer came onto him at such speed and strength that Takato was thrown off balance and flew into a wall. The Bearer left him no space to breathe, as he kept attacking at every moment. Finally, the Bearer was able to connect a jab in Takato's sword arm. Takato screamed in pain and slumped to his knees in pain, clutching his arm. The Dark Bearer was about to bring down his sword on Takato when something hit him from behind. The Bearer flinched but then turned to see who had hit him. Behind him was Kang-Lin, in a fighting stance. Takato's face became one of horror as he saw her.  
  
"NO! Kang-Lin RUN! RUN!" he shouted to her.  
  
She remained where she was, but then decided to follow Takato's instructions. Too late. The Dark Bearer jabbed her in the back. If she hadn't started running when she did, she would have had been dead, but this time, the sword only penetrated deeply, but not mortally deep. Kang-Lin fell to the floor, blood falling out of her wound. When she fell to the ground, Takato suddenly had flashbacks of every time he had been with her, up to the time he kissed her after the Riders had died. He then shot his head upwards and gave a cry of agony and rage. All throughout the city was the cry heard, chilling the hearts of the enemy, and saddening the hearts of the allies. Takato got up slowly and went towards the Bearer, his eyes filed with flames of hate. When the Bearer took notice of him, he turned around and dashed at Takato. Takato was about to receive the final strike when he kicked his foot onto the ground, making his sword flip into his hand, and jabbing it into the Bearer's stomach, making it protrude through the other side. The Bearer fell to the ground, dying. Takato took out his sword and then, making the end face downwards, brought it down into the Bearer's heart. The Bearer gave one last gasp, spitting out blood, and fell dead. Takato then moved slowly to where his beloved lied and kneeled next to her. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked upon the love of his life, dying. He gave a wolf cry of agony and then was quiet. Back to the digimon army, Saitoh and the others were fighting ferociously, after they had seen the fate of Kang-Lin, their fighting grew even more ferocious and wrathful. Kenshin's eyes had turned gold, indicating he had gone into Battousai mode. Sanosuke was fighting with tears in his eyes, as was Yahiko, stabbing repeatedly at his enemies while Misao was throwing and stabbing knives at her enemies with such speed and anger that the digimon were afraid of her. Aoshi was fighting with a scowl to kill the dead once more and Saitoh was attacking without mercy. When he heard the wolf cry, he knew who it was: Takato. It was a cry of agony, meaning something bad was happening to Kang-Lin. Saitoh's wrath multiplied times four as he gave a slash with such force he cut through the armor of an Evil Guardromon and made his sword come out through the other side. In the city, Jin was helping the wounded soldiers when she heard that same cry, making her eyes water.  
  
"Brother…" she started, before actually starting to cry, not from wrath, but from sadness "Brother…what have they done…?" she asked to no one in particular.  
  
Though she was unaware of what had happened to Kang-Lin, she had felt a surge of pain and sadness come over Takato telepathically, indicating that something had happened, not to Takato, but to someone else. She quickly made up her mind and turned to the Red Cross nurses.  
  
"Take care of the wounded, I have to go help my brother." she ordered, before leaving the place at full speed. She quickly got to where Takato was and saw him holding Kang-Lin in his arms. She appeared dead, but Jin still felt her presence in her mind. She approached Takato with a sad look on her face.  
  
"It's all my fault…why did I bring her into this?" asked Takato, with tears in his eyes.  
  
"It's not your fault, big brother…she wanted to come…she loved you and even if we didn't allow her to come, she would've still came…Here, put her down…I'll see what I can do to help her." she requested.  
  
Takato obeyed, though his face was still sad. Jin closed her eyes and put her hands over Kang-Lin's body, searching for the wound. After finding it, she concentrated more and managed to close it. She then telepathically quickened the blood production in her body to make up for blood loss. After about five minutes, Kang-Lin's eyes fluttered open. Takato looked at her with such joy that he forgot his sister was there and kissed Kang-Lin with joy. She gladly returned the kiss. Jin smiled and then went back to the wounded soldiers. After Jin had left, Takato and Kang-Lin broke their kiss and smiled at each other.  
  
"I thought I had lost you…" he whispered  
  
"Never…you will never lose me…" she whispered back, before kissing him again, something which he gladly returned.  
  
Farther away, where the digimon army was, the enemy was being slowly slaughtered into oblivion. Four hours later, the Battle for Geneva had finished with the Swiss National Guard and the Knights and Council members victorious. All over the city cheers rang out through every street. The Swiss flag was hanged out of every window and raised at every post. The soldiers gave cheers at the Knights as they came back to the center of the city. News had come from Zurich and Bern that they too had managed to repel the invasive digimon army, though the armies were not destroyed. Two days after, any information about the digimon armies ceased to come. Everyone but the Knights and their allies thought the digimon armies had retreated back to their world. A week after the defeat of the Digimon Army, a great celebration was organized by the Lake of Geneva. Rides were put up, whole places were dedicated for food and places to sit and chat. That date became then a national holiday called "Jour de la Victoir de la Liberté" or in English, "Day of Victory of Freedom". The Knights and their allies were all guests of honor. Amazingly, the Elves that Legolas had led agreed to come, chatting between themselves and humans and having fun. Angelique had flown from Japan especially for this occasion. Soon, the family was together once more. Takato and Kang-Lin, though, wanted the evening for themselves and so separated themselves from the group. Angelique and Legolas consented, as they both knew what had happened and decided to give them their well-earned private time. After parting his gaze from Takato, Legolas looked at his sons and gave them a smile.  
  
"Ok, who wants to go on the roller coaster with me?" he asked them  
  
Jonathan and Hyryuu gave an approving yell, and felt as if they were five- year old again. Angelique watched them run towards the roller coaster smiling. Christina and Hikaru giggled at the way their boyfriends were acting. Kim and Catherine had seen that a small dancing platform had been set up and ran towards it, Jin close behind. All three of the girls loved to dance, contrarily to the boys. Hikaru then followed them and Christina dragged Angelique with her to the dancing platform. In honor to the Knights, the Swiss had agreed to play some Japanese music, being their favorite. Contrarily to what everyone expected, they actually like the music and began dancing. Form the roller coaster, Hyryuu and Jonathan heard the music and looked at each other and nodded. Legolas saw their looks and gave a smile. He had never heard his sons play their instruments before, but he would this time. All three of them ran back to the platform and Legolas joined Angelique in her dancing. Hyryuu and Jonathan walked up to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and made a sign to one of his helpers. The man came and nodded at the instructions given to him by the DJ. He later came back with an electric guitar and a base guitar. Behind him were two other people, bringing up a drum set and an electrical organ. Hyryuu then ran off the platform and began looking for someone in the crowd. After about ten minutes of searching, he saw a familiar blonde ponytail fluttering in the wind in front of him.  
  
"Zidane! Yo! Zidane! Over here!" shouted Hyryuu  
  
The call made the blonde boy turn around, revealing shock on the boy's face.  
  
"Hyryuu! What in the world are you doing here?" asked Zidane, the band's drum player.  
  
"Uh…nothing really…just on vacation with my family." replied Hyryuu, remembering that Zidane had no knowledge of the identities of the Knights.  
  
"Say, were you here during the battle?! It was so cool!" exclaimed Zidane in excitement.  
  
"Not when you're in the front lines, it ain't…" muttered Hyryuu  
  
"Say what?" asked Zidane  
  
"Huh? Nothing! Say, since we're here and they are playing Japanese music, how about we play for these people?" proposed Hyryuu  
  
"Sure! Show me to the drums!" said Zidane.  
  
Hyryuu led him back to the platform, where the drum set was ready as were the guitars and organ. Now all they needed was Takato and Kang-Lin. As if hey had both read Hyryuu's mind, they were just approaching the platform. Takato had his personal electric guitar with him. He never went anywhere or sang without it. Kang-Lin came up to the piano and tested it. Takato just looked at his brothers with a smile and greeted Zidane. Hyryuu then went to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded and as soon as the song ended, he did not put a new one. When everyone had demanding faces looking at the DJ, he gave a general apology saying he was looking for a new CD to put. The people grumbled their acceptance and stood there, waiting for the next song. The DJ gave Hyryuu a thumbs up, which he returned, saying he was ready. They were to play out of everyone's view, everything being heard on the platform. As soon as the DJ patched the sounds through, the band started playing. The DJ announced that the song was called "Joujou na Kanjou" from Five Swords. Hyryuu then started playing his solo intro, and then afterwards, everyone came in, playing and Takato singing. Everyone on the platform started dancing like crazy, for they loved the song. After finishing that song, they continued with "Heart of Sword" and "Ice Blue Eyes". Finally, for their closing song, they played "Freckles". Throughout the whole 'concert' on one had suspected that they were listening to live music except for Legolas, who was into the plan. After they were done, Takato and the gang quietly and stealthily crept out of the platform while the DJ played some other Japanese music. After they had gotten away from the platform, they returned to it, looking absolutely unaware of what had just happened. Kim and Catherine were dancing like maniacs to the music while Jin was trying to keep up with them. Legolas and Angelique were both dancing and laughing. Hikaru and Christina were both dancing alone, as if the wind was making them flow. Jonathan and Hyryuu went up to their respective other and started to dance with them, as bad as they were. Takato was no better, point demonstrated when Kang-Lin took him out to dance. He had danced a bit at the disco because he knew the steps, but for these songs, he had totally forgotten. After about two hours of dancing, or in the case of the boys, TRYING to dance, they decided that it was time to sleep. Takato and Kang-Lin were authorized to share a room, as were the other two couples. They had all checked into a hotel, though the manager insisted that their stay was to be free. In their room, Takato and Kang-Lin were changing into their pajamas/night robe. When Kang-Lin came out of the bathroom in her nightgown, Takato was already in the bed, reading a book. It was a routine Takato had. He would always read a passage off a book before going to sleep. As Kang-Lin got into bed, he closed his book and looked at her. She looked back at him and they both smiled. Suddenly, Kang-Lin asked Takato the question most unexpected in his life.  
  
"Takato…do you like children?" she asked, though her question had another meaning to it.  
  
"Sure…I guess…I mean, they're cute and all…" he replied, uncertain of what she meant.  
  
"If we ever get married…would you like to have sons or daughters?" she continued asking.  
  
Takato sweatdroped in uncertainty and looked at her.  
  
'Us getting married…now there's something I had NEVER thought about…I mean…Jonathan is…what? 21 years old? Good thing he got his teacher job at our school to help us with the band…" he thought. "I'm only 17...though going to be 18 in a month…Kang-Lin is a month younger than me…heck…Hyryuu has a better chance of getting married…I mean…he's 18 already as is Hikaru. Jin…Hell no way she's getting married at fourteen so better dismiss that thought….but…Do I want to get married?"  
  
"Takato? Are you still awake?" asked Kang-Lin, snapping him to reality.  
  
"What? Oh…yes. Sorry, was just in my thoughts…and yes, I would love to have children." he said with a smile.  
  
'Note to self: Must talk to the guys and get an engagement ring quick.' he thought  
  
Kang-Lin gave a nod of approval and went to sleep. Takato stayed up for a while before going to sleep. The next day, he arose early and got dressed before going outside and knocking onto his brothers' rooms. Both boys answered the doors and Takato told them to come outside for a moment.  
  
"Guys…I have a problem." he said  
  
"What's the matter?" asked Hyryuu, yawning  
  
"Yeah, what's up bro?" asked Jonathan  
  
"Kang-Lin wants to get married." Takato told them simply  
  
Their reactions differed. Jonathan caught his breath and coughed while Hyryuu just froze.  
  
"Guys? You two still with me here or not?" asked Takato  
  
"Uh…well…what do you want? Do YOU want to get married?" asked Hyryuu  
  
"Well…I had never thought of that…I mean, I love her dearly…but…" he started, before Jonathan cut him off  
  
"You don't know if you can live up to the commitment?" he asked  
  
"Exactly…I don't know if I can live up to the commitment or to her expectations" replied Takato  
  
"How, may I ask, did this subject come up?" asked Jonathan  
  
"She started asking me if I liked children." answered Takato "And then it kinda went downhill from there."  
  
"I see…well then, you two have my full support." said Jonathan  
  
"Same here." agreed Hyryuu  
  
"Let's just hope Mom and Dad will approve." muttered Jonathan  
  
'As if they don't already know. Jonathan, you disappoint me…' said a voice in Jonathan's mind.  
  
'Jin…what are you doing in my head? And more, what do you mean they know?' asked Jonathan mentally.  
  
'I was bored and decided to go mind exploring…you wouldn't believe how boring the people around here are in their minds…I actually found one who was a crazed maniac…calmed him down though…and as for dad and mom, I told them after hearing the conversation Takato and Kang-Lin had yesterday.' replied Jin  
  
'Takato isn't going to like that…' warned Jonathan  
  
'He need not know. If you don't tell him, I won't tell on YOUR conversation with Christina' she replied  
  
'Blackmail' he thought  
  
'All's fair in love and war' she said 'and we aren't in war.' she finished, before disrupting the connection  
  
Jonathan sighed before turning his attention to Takato.  
  
"Mom and Dad approve." he announced  
  
"How do you know?" asked Takato.  
  
"Jin told me." replied Jonathan  
  
"Ah." answered Takato, not wanting to know HOW she found out about last night and right now.  
  
"Well, I guess we should go get a ring, right?" proposed Hyryuu  
  
"Yep…sure looks like it." answered Jonathan  
  
Jonathan and Hyryuu went back into their rooms, washed, and came back out in normal street clothes. They searched everywhere for a jewelry store but found none. Then, at the corner of the street, they spotted a jewelry store. They went inside and started looking around. Little did they know that Legolas had asked Aragorn to follow them. Aragorn had slipped into the store and crept up on Takato and his brothers. Just when Takato was turning around, he gasped as he recognized Aragorn.  
  
"Jewelry shopping? This isn't like you Takato…Looking for something special? Like a RING?" he asked  
  
"Let me guess, Legolas sent you…" said Takato  
  
"Sharp as ever I see. Very good. Anyway, I understand you are looking for a ring…let me help you." he asked.  
  
"Sure, why not?" said Takato  
  
"Ok, then I found one already." said Aragorn, bringing out a small box, furred with red cloth, the crest of Hope engraved on the top part.  
  
"Where did you get that?" asked Jonathan  
  
"It's a secret." said Aragorn.  
  
Takato took the box and opened it. Inside was a golden ring with a medium sized orange gem in the middle. All around the ring were engravings of some weird language.  
  
"Who made this? This isn't human craft…that I can tell." asked Takato, looking at Aragorn  
  
"This is an Elven ring. It was forged by Elves. They made it especially for you, for the day that you would marry your beloved one. The engravings on it are also of Elven origin. They read in your tongue "Yours in Life, Death, and Eternity. You shall always be my heart." he translated  
  
"I see…but how much does it cost?" asked Takato  
  
"Were you listening? This is a gift from the Elves! They want you to have it free of charge. The gold is pure and the gem is what we call a Krushta gem. It translates into Sun Gem. It is only found in the mines of Moria, where the dwarves now live. They brought it up from the mines and gave it to the Elves for making this ring. You could say it is a gift from the Dwarves and Elves. The humans are also giving something. They are giving you your future house. When you decide what you want it to be like, just tell us and the carpenters, stone-workers and others will come to build it. Takes a lot less time than here." answered Aragorn  
  
"I see…give them my thanks…tell them I will someday repay them for their kindness." requested Takato  
  
"Your deeds right now are enough of a reward already." answered Aragorn. "Now then, if we have the ring, I guess it is wise for us to go back to bed so as to not raise any of the girls' suspicions?" proposed Aragorn, to which all three nodded.  
  
All four returned to the hotel and went to their rooms. Several hours later, Kang-Lin woke up to see Takato sitting on a couch not far form the bed, but facing away. She got up and sat beside him, startling him a bit.  
  
"Kang-Lin! Jeez…don't scare me like that! After all, if this is how you're going to act through our marriage, I might as well think twice!" he said jokingly  
  
"Our marriage? What do you mean?" asked Kang-Lin, a flame of hope burning inside her.  
  
"I mean this…" he started, kneeling in front of her. "Kang-Lin, love of my life, my own angel…" he continued, bringing out the box "will you make this joker and fool your Knight and husband for the rest of your life?" he asked.  
  
Kang-Lin only stayed quiet, but her heart was bouncing around in joy.  
  
"Translation of what I just said is: Kang-Lin, will you marry me?" he said, half jokingly, half serious.  
  
"I know what you just said! You're right about something, though…you are a fool and joker…but you are MY fool and joker. Of course I'll marry you Takato-kun!" she said giving him a tight embrace. After she let him go, he put on the ring on her finger, making her gasp at how beautiful and warm it was.  
  
"Now is the time when I pass out from joy…g'night." he said, before slumping down from joy. 


End file.
